My Brother's Reaper
by Kagamichihime
Summary: Sold for sex to pay Kaname's gambling debts, Yuuki was left to face the harsh cynicism of vampiric nature at a young age. In ten short years, she had to become a perfect assassin in order to survive. Now she and her partner, Zero, are out for revenge. AU
1. AntiVampire Serum

**A/N: **The beginning is a bit different from the summary, but we'll get into the details soon.

For Kaien Cross, I will be calling him Kurosu in this fic, to sound more badass. Also, despite how this fic involves a good amount of AntiVampire Serum, this is in no way a sequel or prequel to AntiVampire Frosting. ;) The only thing related is the fact that Kaien invented it.

This first chapter will probably be the most actiony, as Yuuki is demonstrating her abilities. Later action scenes will be shortened. **The bulk of the fic will be centering more on the feelings and relationships rather than pure action.**

**Important Warnings:** there are bloody action scenes, with head explosions and descriptive torture and death. Things will happen in this fic that a lot of people would find sick and perverse, detailed child-molestation, rape, ect. This is set to fuck with the protagonist's mind, and if you don't like it, then I encourage you to not read this fan**_ fiction_**.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Vampire Knight. It belongs to the brilliant Matsuri Hino. Also, I am not gun or action savvy, and am writing this fic to also better my skills in those fields, so please bear with me.

* * *

(|===|_'_'_'_'_'|))'_'_'_')=------ . _AntiVampire Serum_ . ------=('_'_'_'((|'_'_'_'_'_|===|)

* * *

Upon that cold metal table was where she made her epitaph - If she couldn't kill him, then she would die trying.

The whirring of those machines was a spine tingling sound to most, but not to Yuuki. For them it often meant enslavement, but for her, it was a silver lullaby. In the white room, underneath the halo of light was where she found her solace from the nightmare of her true nature. As the needle pierced the skin of her neck, all of her self-contained fears, the shadow of insanity, they all grew distant.

"Commencing serum injection, dosage increase from twenty-five to thirty cc's of AntiVampire00 solution."

Those words echoing from the intercom were lyrics that accompanied the musical whirring. The comforting, stinging pain of the needle, feelings from the serum were emotions behind that song.

Yuuki could feel the fluids being injected into her bloodstream, freezing cold one moment, then burning like hellfire the next. It spread rapidly, all consuming, binding her unwanted genes. In the center of the halo light above her, a mirror was fixed in the blank space. Kurosu had placed it there at Yuuki's request, so she could watch the crimson hue bleed from her eyes, turning them back to a soft, chocolate brown.

The machine with the needle withdrew from her skin, a thin line of blood leaking from the entry point in her neck. It healed instantly, the small rivulet of red serving the same purpose that the mirror in the room was present - to ensure her that she was no longer a vampire.

Yuuki gagged as the scent of blood drifted to her nose, bringing the edge of a bed sheet on the gurney to wipe at the spill. Only a moment ago, she desired nothing more than to chomp on Zero's neck. The watchful guardian hovered over her, shining a light into both eyes, examining them thoroughly before giving a thumbs up to Kurosu, who stood behind the glass observation panel in the control room. He nodded in understanding before releasing the metal shackles binding her to the gurney.

Zero kept silent, not asking her how she felt, as he already knew. Their unlikely bond had been forged through the ostracizing they were both subjected to within the Hunter's Syndicate. The humans hated them, and the other vampires from their Scarlet Assassin Force resented them for so willingly giving up their 'vampire pride'. They were the only ones who saw their genes as a curse, not a blessing. Because of that, they received the sterile serum, not the one laced with manipulative obedience genes like all the other vampires.

"Feel better?" Kurosu asked from the intercom.

"Of course." Yuuki confirmed with a sigh while sitting up, truly meaning it.

She glanced at Zero, noting how his normally lilac eyes were closer to a sort of dark heliotrope today, meaning that he would need another injection soon, in a week at the very least. His eyes bore into hers, brimming with thoughts they knew he would rather not voice aloud.

Yuuki smirked, reaching out a hand, touching her fingertips to the center diamond of his tattoo. She could feel the strength of his pulse beneath the ink and flesh, how it jolted off into a sprint at the most simple of her touches. This was what she was after, the ability to override her hunger and recognize the thudding of his heart as a sign of emotions, not a dinner invitation.

"Zero, if you'll step through the door on your right to the observation deck, we can commence the Chameleon Testing."

What, was she supposed to turn invisible or something?

The silver haired hunter brought up a single finger, curling it beneath Yuuki's chin before they parted.

Making her way over to a table in the back of the white room, Yuuki found the new skintight catsuit that Kaien had made for her. She changed right there, not caring whether or not both he and Zero could see her still. They had found her nude in the first place, and she was utterly desensitized to men staring at her naked form.

_The gentle voice that she had admired for years had somehow turned into a husky, laughing whisper against her ear that morning.  
_

_A large hand wandered down to her nether regions, lifting up the skirt of the white dress her mother had placed on her only that evening when she awoke, squealing about how pretty her sweet daughter looked. Two fingers slipped inside of her bloomers, creeping below to stroke against her as her dress was ripped from her body.  
_

_"What did you call this," he stroked her more roughly through the fabric. "Yuuki? Your kitty? I like playing with kitties, remember when we brought one home to Okaasama, and she wouldn't let us keep it? Remember how sad I was? Can I play with your kitty, Yuuki?"_

A silent tear made its leap of faith from the corner of her eye.

This was another reason why she wanted to be injected with the serum, the side effects made her have flashbacks, which only served to strengthen her resolve to do whatever it took to exact revenge on the one who sent her life to hell.

It was because of _him_ that she couldn't love another the way she wanted to. Zero was changing that, slowly, surely, but until that man was dead, she would not be able to live with herself for letting him get away with all he'd done. Even now, while dormant and nearly ineffective, she could feel the pureblood's blood within her burn with the desire for revenge.

She got dressed mechanically, checking and equipping all of her weapons, bending forward to shake her long hair out before swiftly tying it up in a ponytail. As she headed towards the exit, the lights switched off, casting her into complete darkness as she slipped on her trench-coat. The test was beginning.

Though her more violent instincts and blood-thirst was repressed by the serum, she was still a vampire, and her physical traits and heightened senses still stayed. There was no way to change that with just a simple artificially engineered solution.

No one had to worry about her using pureblood powers on them, because they had never _fully_ manifested in the first place. Several vampires in the Scarlet Assassin Force had always doubted her pedigree, but Yuuki was terrified to try and prove that she was. On one hand, if she tried to use the absent powers she had no idea how to work, then nothing might have happened, proving that they had never been inherited in the first place.

But if she was right, and she was a ticking time bomb, then the entirety of Silver City would have been wiped out. If she did have any pureblood powers, then they would have to have been drawn out in time, to avoid her own self implosion.

Yuuki could see just fine in the dark, details and all. She ran to the main, metal doors, not making a sound as she picked the lock with a pair of special tools that had been provided for her. Just a little more, and she would be able to esc-!

The sabotaged tool broke in the lock, making that escape route impossible to take without causing a huge commotion. She hadn't even been provided with explosions for this testing, unless you counted the flash bangs.

Spotting a vent, along the high wall, Yuuki looked for something to use to climb up on, only to remember that the furniture in the room was bolted down. It was too high up to jump and reach, especially for a vampire who took ten cc's or more of the AntiVampire serum, and her dose just now was triple that.

She rubbed her hands together in thought, hearing a scraping sound coming from the friction. Puzzled as to why her new catsuit would have had any damages, she ran her gloved hands along her arm, feeling how the material would cling to the smooth leather, just like a lizard.

Just like a chameleon.

Testing her grip, Yuuki stroked the smooth wall, climbing as best as she could with only them until she realized that the knees of her leather slacks were made of the same material, making her climb much easier. To her dismay, the vent cover was screwed on. She slipped her hand through the slats, contemplating just ripping the steel, but seeing as the inside of the vent was also lined with the metal, she would make a noise when doing so, and get points taken off of her final score for the drill.

Unless the noise was a distraction, diversion, or was immediately followed by the confounding or death of an enemy, she would be killed, which is why it was so important to perfect the drills. Even though these were labeled as tests, if an enemy, usually a level C, or D vampire, could successfully kill the assassin running the course, he or she would take their place in the ranks.

Yuuki never had points taken off. Sometimes, things would happen like the tools breaking, the guns coming without bullets and the like. They were the tests within the tests, measuring her resourcefulness. Once she remembered that, things made sense.

She proceeded to take the vent cover off, using the broken tool as a substitute for a screwdriver. Lowering the cover to the ground, she crawled into the tight, downward inclined space.

As she approached the other end of the vent, she was confused to find that there wasn't a second cover, and that it was, in fact, open access. The ceiling in the room was low, so chances were, that if she got close enough to the end, one of the pacing guards would be able to see her come up. Very clever, Kurosu...

Keeping low, Yuuki crawled towards the end, stopping short of exposure.

Two guards were situated at the far end of the dark hall, guarding the door, a third walking towards them like rounds. There were probably five guards on duty altogether, two were more than likely stationed close to the door she had tried to exit through. She couldn't check without revealing herself. A guard looked up expectantly at the vent, meaning that they knew. If she didn't act fast enough, they would probably would fill the vent full of lead with their semi-automatics, using their fangs and claws if worse came to worse.

Retrieving the Walther P99 from her trench-coat and a couple of flash bangs, she made up a plan on the fly, tossing one to each end of the room. As soon as the light blinded them she fired a single round into the skull of the patrolling guard and clamored along the ceiling, narrowly missing a barrage of bullets.

Yuuki dropped down to the ground with a hard click of her heels, having to shield herself beneath the fallen guard to avoid any loose bullets flying around. She searched his pockets for a key card, careful not to get more blood on herself, lest she leave a scent trail.

When she realized he didn't have the card, she turned her attention, and weapon at the blinded vampires, lodging a bullet into their skulls. It was almost too easy to locate the key card as she walked back to the opposite door and typed in the password.

_C h a m e l e o n|_

_-_

_..................  
_

**ACCESS DENIED**

**-**

Alright, so then it would be a variation. She knew that was the password, and she knew that if one part of the test was easy, there was an even more difficult task waiting beyond.

_C h a m e l e 0 n_|

-

.....................

**PERMISSION GRANTED**

Yuuki gave a smirk when she got the password right. She waltzed right through the door, face first into the barrel of a shiny silver Desert Eagle.

Her trigger finger twitched, but she kept her gun lowered, eyes following the sleek lines of the Bloody Rose up to Zero's calm, focused expression.

* * *

(|===|_'_'_'_'_'|))'_'_'_')=------ . _AntiVampire Serum_ . ------=('_'_'_'((|'_'_'_'_'_|===|)

* * *

**A/N: **So, yeah, this is different for me. It's my first time writing... like this I guess. I don't know what to call it. But, if you liked it, you can thank Sugarcult and thoughts of James Bond for practically squeezing this fic out of me. I had a lot of trouble trying to decide whether or not to make it take place in the modern, past, or future era.

Please let me know your opinions as to whether or not I should continue and what you would like to see more of.

**Review:** Tell me what you think? Your reviews are much appreciated, and they inspire me to keep writing. The more I get, the more I feel like I should continue. :)


	2. Speakeasy

**A/N:** This chapter was actually a lot more fun to write than I had originally anticipated. :)

There is some major OOC, but different situations/circumstances call for different reactions, and they won't be that way throughout the entire fic. They'll fall back into character, but it'll be a lot like weaving I suppose. It's a prediction. Especially since I try to portray Yuuki differently from her original design. Same core, different things that shaped her.

* * *

(|===|_'_'_'_'_'|))'_'_'_')=------ . _Speakeasy_ . ------=('_'_'_'((|'_'_'_'_'_|===|)

* * *

"You did very well, Yuuki. I can see that your trust level with Kiryuu-kun has improved dramatically since you two first met." Kurosu's voice speculated from the intercom.

Zero snorted, breaking his bearing as he lowered his weapon.

"It's been that way for a while, you're just now noticing?" then things must have really been moving along if he, of all people could tell.

"Don't be like that Zero," Kaien chided as he exited the observation deck to join them in the white room. "She's doing better than most probably would have in the same situation."

The pair looked over his odd choice of dress, a fur hat, coat, and fox stole, inside of a perfectly temperature moderated building. The weird just kept getting weirder.

"Please, stop talking about me as if I'm not here." Yuuki frowned.

"Sorry Yuuki." Kaien smile sadly. "Your biweekly training is complete, so feel free to do as you wish until you're assigned a task."

"Thank you, Kurosu-san."

"I'm not in an authoritative position at the moment, call me 'tousan'." Kaien pouted.

"Erm, sorry, but we've got to go, come on Zero."

"Fine by me." he said indifferently, following Yuuki to one of the two center platforms, riding it down to the level below.

The pair were greeted with the buzz of conversation and scent of food beyond double glass doors, leading into a sort of food court, like one you would see at a mall with fake plants and high ceilings. The hunters within sat loosely segregated. The left side was heavily populated with human hunters, the right held a throng of the vampires from the Scarlet Assassin Force. In the middle it dotted with humans and vampires alike, few, but enough to keep the atmosphere from being too tense in the dining area.

Yuuki and Zero, whenever they were together, rarely bothered to dine in the food court at the Syndicate, opting to go out to eat, or to bring the food back to their room and talk amongst themselves. Even if they sat in the middle, they got weird stares from both sides, neither too willing to accept them into their cliques.

"Hey there pureblood-san, feeling better after your injection? Maybe now I can keep up with you!"

"Careful, if you piss her off she'll take control of our minds with her powers and, oh wait, what powers?"

A group of vampires burst into laughter, effectively annoying Yuuki. One of the only drawbacks of being human-like was that her patience severely thinned. Still, she grit her teeth and passed them with Zero in tow, an unspoken agreement to go out for lunch passing between them.

"Fucking drunks." Zero muttered, cocking Bloody Rose as they passed.

"Hey Zero, it seems like you've found that pureblood you've been looking for. Kudos! Maybe you can kill her when you two get back to your dorm and then kill yourself!"

"Seriously! then we wouldn't have to put up with you two!"

"Let it go, if you kill them now then we'll have to pick up their workload." Yuuki sighed.

"That's fine with me, murdering those filthy bastards, it's what kept me sane for years."

"You'll be put to work in the kitchen."

"I'll poison their food."

"Yes, but you know they probably won't die if their eyes are heliotrope."

The two kept thinking up imaginative ways to murder their colleagues, turning the consequences of their actions into more challenging opportunities until they had sketched out grandiose acts with elaborately planned steps for killing and concealment. The mood had become lighthearted when they started picking on each others' arrangements, the conversation filled mostly with laughter and playful jabs.

When they reached dorm room three hundred and two, Yuuki pulled out the key card from her testing earlier, slipping it in and out of the reader, keying in the new pass code to their room.

_C h a m e l e 0 n|_

_-_

_.........................._

**PERMISSION GRANTED**

**PLEASE ENTER WITHIN 10 SECONDS**

**9**

**8**

The partners entered to the quiet, peachy cinnamon scent of their room, each immediately occupying themselves with changing, or checking up on news.

Everyone in the Syndicate had a partner. Everyone. Humans were paired with humans, and vampires with their own kin. Yuuki had no idea how the humans were trained and tested, but with the vampires, a serum injection was issued to each of the partners separately, once every two weeks, one partner shooting up per week. They if they lived through the assessment after each injection, they were free to return to life as they saw fit, granted that they completed all of their missions.

All of the vampires stayed at the Syndicate. It was up to the partner who cleared the trial to keep the key card and remember the pass code from the test in order to be allowed back into their room. If not, they would have to seek shelter elsewhere. The pass codes were changed every week, and there was always a fair share of clumsy, freshly-humanized vampires who either misplaced their cards, or forgot the code.

As the top two in the Syndicate, Yuuki and Zero always had room and board.

They wandered around the four hundred square foot studio that consisted of little more than white bunk beds, to save space, a black leather love seat adjacent to the beds, cherry wood coffee table, and thirty-two inch flatscreen television mounted to the wall across from the seat. A thin wire rack besides the bunks served as their nightstand, holding what few possessions they had, and a small cherry wood wardrobe sat at the foot of their bed. There was no bathroom in any of the studios, they all had to use the public ones, which were coed, unlike the room assignments. The white walls were bare.

Males and females were typically partnered to cut down on the drama but Zero and Yuuki had known each other since she was eight, when she was first found. The two had been raised and treated as siblings ever since, even if they clearly knew that wasn't the case. The two also had the most possessions of any vampire in the Scarlet Assassin Force, seeing as they were the ones who survived the longest, but not without their scars...

Yuuki slipped off her trench coat and catsuit, folding and hanging them gently on her side of the wardrobe as she grabbed a pink pair of panties and matching bra, pulling them in place as she took a few seconds in deciding what to wear. A small smile still touched her lips from the mirth of their recent conversation, which had ceased in favor of preparations.

Zero didn't feel like changing, he was just fine with going wherever in his white button up and black slacks. He had discarded the white lab coat he donned during Yuuki's injection while still in the observation deck.

"Where do you want to go?" Zero asked, pulling his laptop from the coffee table to check his Twitter accounts for any updates on execution lists, or assignments, or even news on potential target whereabouts.

"Hmm, Kiba's?" Yuuki responded, dressing in a snowy tank top and sapphire cardigan with a matching black miniskirt, fastening her black leather thigh holster beneath it, where she cradled her favorite weapon of choice inside--Artemis. Its cool metal buzzed dully against her skin, as if it decided that shocking her wasn't worth making an effort, settling for an annoying hum. She left her hair pulled up, running her fingers through the long ponytail before stepping into a pair of blue and black heels.

"In the mood for gossip, huh?" Zero sighed, closing his laptop before leaning back. "It's probably for the best, Twitter hasn't produced good results for a few weeks now, so I knew we'd have to go eavesdropping sooner or later."

"I'd rather not do it at Kiba's, but unfortunately, we'll blend in pretty well." Yuuki licked her fangs as she tossed Zero a contact case with solid violet lenses that he caught effortlessly. "I wish these damn things were retractable."

"You and me both."

Damn Zero hated putting in contacts, they irritated him to no end. At least is was one of the easiest incognito feats he had to achieve, but for the setting, it was perhaps the most helpful. Vampires of the Scarlet Assassin Force were not trusted within normal vampire society, and were more often than not looked down upon.

Perhaps the easiest way to tell who was walking around with the Serum in them was by measuring the shades of red in their irises. The Serum was built to dye the irises of vampires with a red tint the older it got within their bodies. Most vampires' eyes would stay their normal color for the first four days, then gradually darken over time, turning ruby whenever they needed another injection. Once the Serum was replenished, the red would bleed from their eyes into their tears and escape the body so the whole cycle could start over again. If a vampire didn't receive a supplementary injection within a week, their eyes would slowly turn to white over that period of time, and blind them for two weeks, before escaping through tears. That particular side effect was engineered for the deserters. Before the two weeks would end, all who had tried to escape had been killed or brought back without exception. However, if any were to escape, they would be free from the serum and the Scarlet Assassin Force, with their natural eye color back.

There was a noticeable difference though, in the sense that normal vampires' eyes turned ruby when they were hungry. What was that difference? Theirs glowed, while the Serum didn't.

Yuuki brought eye drops over to Zero, who was having a difficult time with the plastic folding in on itself over his eye.

"Hold still." she said, placing a hand against his cheek to steady him.

She squeezed a few drops out of the small bottle into the corners of his eyes, letting them spread and lubricate the contacts. Zero focused on the warmth of her hand, rather than the discomfort of the lenses. Placing two fingertips over his eyelids, Yuuki applied a _very_ gentle pressure.

"Now roll your eyes around."

Zero did as he was told, feeling the plastic flatten out over his irises. He growled a little, clearing the involuntary tears that had formed from hosting a foreign object on a sensitive mucus membrane.

_"Thanks."_ he whispered, gently stroking a finger down the back of her hand.

"You're welcome." Yuuki responded softly.

(|===|_'_'_'_'_'|))'_'_'_')=------ .

"ღ*~+~*ღ"

. ------=('_'_'_'((|'_'_'_'_'_|===|)

The pair passed through the dorm corridors, Yuuki receiving many catcalls in her wake, not once batting an eyelash their way as she led them through the lower levels of the Syndicate to the basement. They took a random path through the underground, coming up beneath the building of a modeling agency, using the concealed exit to join the crowded streets of Silver City. It was still early out for vampires, late for humans, but the streets were always crowded, that would never change.

Zero kept closer to Yuuki, subconsciously worried for her safety as they navigated deeper through the heart of downtown, passing many neon signs along the way. The colors were bright, and numerous, from pink to purple, green, adding to the light pollution, blocking out the stars in a hazy sort of tangerine glow of artificial light that dusted what little of the inky black skyline they could see.

They crossed the street and veered into a large, upscale nightclub for humans beneath a blinking neon sign that read 'Cabaret'. Yuuki presented their forged admission passes and walked in like they owned the place, keeping close to the walls as they passed the threshold between staff and audience, past the Red Line to backstage, the notes of a song the band onstage was playing floated back into the enveloping darkness, becoming quite quiet and muted when they descended the stairs past a fake EMERGENCY EXIT ONLY door.

The darkness was no trouble at all to their eyes in the now quiet atmosphere, the only sounds around being the soft metallic echo of Yuuki's heels clicking on the rusted metal steps. Zero held her hand on the way down, choosing to guide her through the area, ready to catch her if she were to fall. Yuuki smiled affectionately at his back, amused at how he could forget that she was a better assassin than himself, or even put it out of his mind.

"Careful, Yuuki, the stairs get uneven around here." he said, as if they hadn't been there a thousand times before.

"Thanks, Zero." she replied, the smile coming through in her voice.

Zero turned his head slightly to look over his shoulder, a small blush tinging his cheeks as he squeezed her hand in apology.

"Sorry, sometimes I forget."

"Nn, it's okay. It's rather...."

"Endearing?" he tried with a hopeful grin.

"Amusing." she decided, raising a brow, giving him a sly look.

The silver haired hunter gave a mock pout before sticking his tongue out at her, knitting his brows and wrinkling his nose to make a cute sourpuss face. Yuuki laughed at him.

"Careful now, your face might get stuck that way."

"Then it would be all your fault, and you'll have to put up with the guilt of making me ugly."

"Pfft, please, that's not ugly, it's rather, dare I say it? Cute."

"You, have weird tastes." Zero laughed, arching a brow at her. "Maybe I'll make that face next time I want something from you in public."

"Don't you dare! Do it and say goodbye to your iPod."

"You wouldn't."

"Try me." she smirked.

Zero waggled his brows at her, a smirk of his own spreading across his lips.

_"One day, when you're ready."_

Yuuki's heart skipped a beat at his softly spoken words. If it was anyone other than him, she might have cracked right there, and not in a good way.

The pair finally reached the bottom of the staircase after a few minutes of zigzagging descent. Zero rapped on a door lightly three times, hard once, twice more, lightly, and hard a final time. A small slat opened, revealing a glowing, crimson pair of eyes.

"What's the word?" her silky seductive voice cooed.

"Mum." Yuuki replied with confidence.

The eyes narrowed, scrutinizing the pair, lingering on their cupped hands before disappearing, the slat to the metal door slamming shut. The hunters were suddenly very aware of their connection and promptly let go, Yuuki out of discomfort at even the smallest levels of intimacy, Zero out of respect and understanding of her fears.

Metal locks and chains clicked and clanged, a vast number of them being undone all at once before the door swung open, the sweet, musty scent of blood and alcohol creeping through the air, wrapping around them, trying to pull them in. The scent of food was subdued, but definitely there.

"Welcome to Kiba's." the woman hissed, inviting them into the noisy establishment.

They walked into the speakeasy as if they had come there every night, despite how shady the place seemed, if you could call such a ritzy, gold trimmed looking place shady, the food was actually pretty good. The pair passed booths crowded with occupants, all of them vampires, all of them sneaking Yuuki side glances as she passed, her presence setting off something deep inside of them.

They sat down in a booth near the center, hoping to catch some tidbits of information as they passed from lip to ear and back around again. Yuuki sighed, feeling the cold fingers of fear creep along her spine. She was used to places like this, very used to them. There was one somewhere, perhaps in Silver City, perhaps in one of its neighbors, that held a brothel and casino. She had been held in that place for three long years, used, tortured by sick, sadistic pedophiles, broken into and defiled mercilessly until she would pass out, awakening perhaps hours later in the same cell she was objectified in, eyes staring at her hungrily until the broken doll that she was healed, making her ready to take again.

_Something was invading her, something big, thick, and throbbing. Word of all, it was hard, and it just wouldn't stop. A smooth, husky voice she didn't recognize whispered into her ear._

_"So sweet, so tight. Children really are the best. No matter how much you stretch them, they snap back into place like elastic. You must love being the center of attention my dear, to be so surrounded by this delicious blood, to bathe in the depths of torture."_

_Yuuki was still new to the industry then. She didn't know who these men were, or what she had that they could want. One day she realized, that all they wanted was to hurt her.  
_

_"We're going to be friends for a very long time, aren't we? And when you grow up, I'll let you maim me, just like how I shred your flesh and bruise your womb. The most perverse pleasures will carry you to orgasm."_

_"Stop... please...noooo!"  
_

_"And one day, my little pet, we'll have a child all our own, and we will play with him or her as I play with you now, their sweet voice crying out for mercy, it'll make you come right there."_

"Yuuki!" Zero whispered urgently, pulling her out of the flashback.

She was shaking violently, forehead drenched in a cold sweat. She barely registered when Zero got up to sit on her side of the booth. The warm, strong feeling of his hand grasping around hers was her anchoring point to sanity. It wasn't overbearing, nor was it laced with hidden intentions. No, in a sick sense she was reassured by his worries and fears of losing her to the shadows of her own mind, and rightfully so.

Yuuki managed to pull herself together in less than a minute, a grand feat compared to how she used to be unable to cope with anything...

The server was taking their sweet time, which was fine for her, since most everything in the speakeasy was laced with blood, something she found disgusting to consume at the moment. In truth, she had just wanted to order a few pizza and watch Rent or something with Zero, before dozing off into a mozzarella induced coma, but the information flow had been bad for a while now, and she had to do whatever she could to gain new leads before she tore through the countryside on a rampant murder-suicide mission.

It wasn't until Yuuki had started to marvel at inventive thinking--a single flame on a candle in the center of an aisle, which the chandeliers over the tables caught and bent in patterns onto the tablecloths, saving both money and creating wonderful design specs, that she heard a snippet of what she was looking for.

_"I hear that that pureblood, a certain handsome teenage someone, had gambled all the way to the top of Yakuza."_

_"You don't say? Which Syndicate?"_

_"Well you didn't hear it from me, but-"_

"Hello, my name is Takuma. what can I get for you this evening? Our specials of the night are blood steak, blood..."

Yuuki was going to kill him, she was going to kill him dead, she was going to wrap him in chicken wire, put his feet into a cement tub, and throw him to a nursery of vicious vamplings. She squeezed Zero's hand until she was sure she would break his fingers with any more pressure. He ordered for the both of them, petting Yuuki's free hand with the one she wasn't reshaping.

_"But I hear he joined them for a reason."_

Thank goodness they were still on the subject!

_"It's said that he's looking for his sister."_

Yuuki could feel the blood drain from her face.

* * *

(|===|_'_'_'_'_'|))'_'_'_')=------ . _Speakeasy_ . ------=('_'_'_'((|'_'_'_'_'_|===|)

* * *

**A/N:** Yay for research. Most of this I made up right on the spot, and for others, I took up to an hour of research for maybe a sentence or two. Sheesh, thank goodness I have prior knowledge about contact lenses! I was really surprised how I thought of throwing a speakeasy into the mix. back in the day, those were used for alcohol sales when it was illegal, so I used the same concept for blood. It sort of messes with the time frame, which I realized wasn't all that bad to do, considering that canon VK sends messages by telegram but has modern cars.

I kind of like Era-mixing. It gives that, 'when in the hell are we?' sense. XD

**Reviews:** I would love you forever.


	3. A Different Kind of Hunter

**A/N:** I almost feel bad about how I abuse them.

* * *

(|===|_'_'_'_'_'|))'_'_'_')=------ . _A Different Kind of Hunter_ . ------=('_'_'_'((|'_'_'_'_'_|===|)

* * *

"My fiancee's not feeling well, trying to get pregnant, now's not a good time for her so I thought I'd take her out to cheer her up." Zero shrugged a shoulder at Takuma, offering him his best face of sympathy for Yuuki.

"Ah, well you've come to the right place. Some nourishment would be good for her, make it easier for her body to adapt." the waiter smiled, unusually kind for working in such a setting.

"I'll have that blood steak. Yuuki?"

"Oyakodon.* Original Ramune. Strawberries."

"Of course." he said with a short bow before leaving.

"It'll be over soon." Zero murmured, rubbing at the spot between her shoulder blades where most of her tension knotted.

_"Rumor has it, he wants to find her so he can take her as his wife."_

_"Ooh, romantic feelings left unbridled?"_

_"I don't know, but what I do know is, that that little girl is one lucky bitch."_

_"Wait, didn't she disappear a decade ago? Chances are that she isn't even alive."_

_"I'm just relaying the whispers that have been going around."_

Yuuki swallowed hard against the bile in her throat, its unpleasant slime coated her mouth with its saltiness. He was looking for her, like she had been for him? If she could prove herself, she could probably find him easily. Find him, kill him, it probably wouldn't have been that easy, even for someone as professional as her.

It was just like him, she realized, to cloak his true intentions behind innocent pretenses. She shouldn't have been surprised that he would try to romanticize their separation in order to get people riled up about reuniting them. The fact that it was nothing more than a whisper in the speakeasy gave her hope that there was still time to mentally prepare.

Funny, she had been longing to run into him for years, to send him to hell. The tendrils of hatred coiled tighter around her heart, burrowing, nesting within the infested organ in her body that had long since rotted out.

"Yuuki...?"

Her heart stuttered. It was that voice that allowed her to maintain the illusion of wellness. It was the light in her darkest hour that hindered the spread of those festering sores, slowly but surely trying to repair the impossible.

_"....ey"_

_Cold and damp was the floor beneath her, so sinfully soft compared to the hard stone and linoleum she was used to. The dirt smelled sickly sour beneath her nose, littered with mold and remnants of the upchucked meal the monster commanded her to clean up. Before it had been bloody meat, raw, some sort of rotting roadkill perhaps. Her body had rejected the foul sustenance, she had regurgitated it back onto the earthen floor of the dark basement she was chained in. She was so weak, emaciated, her sallow cheeks and concave chest barely moved with every shallow inhalation. Numerous day old bite marks throbbed painfully, infected, but it didn't matter. Broken or brackish, she would still heal up before the day's end if they hadn't cut her with that sword again.  
_

_Any moment now, he would come back._

_Any moment now, she would be probed and torn into._

_And at no moment would she die._

_For as long as her head and heart were safe from critical damage,_

_she would live forever._

_"Hey,"_

_A warm hand caressed her cheek. She didn't cringe, like she would have so long ago. The less she struggled, the sooner it would be over anyway. There was nothing she could do to stop it, she was just a little girl._

_"Are you alive?"_

_Was this a new master? The lord often brought others over to 'play' with her. It didn't matter. They would soon grow tired and leave. Let them take her. the harder, the more bruising the better. She would pass out and he would continue to pillage her, and perhaps, this time, she wouldn't wake up._

_Even though she knew she would,_

_Even though hope was not something she believed in anymore..._

_"You aren't alone."  
_

_The voice was high pitched, child like, not at all scary and foreboding. His words were thick, as if he were about to cry. Chains rattled here and there as he untangled her still mass from the iron, treating her as if she were the most fragile porcelain angel instead of the blackened near-corpse she was.  
_

_"I'll keep you warm."_

_ As gentle arms cradled her skeletal form close to a palpitating chest, Zero instantly fulfilled his first promise to her._

It may not have seemed like much, but Yuuki owed him so much for that kindness, it saved her life that night, allowing her a sort of bridge between the gap of insanity to security. Zero didn't agree. He merely comforted someone who was starved for love.

"Here are your drinks, strawberries, I'll be back with your meals in a few minutes." Takuma said with a slight smile. "I'll leave this here with you, no charge."

He placed a tiny syrup pitcher on the edge of the table, its warm contents sloshing around in the metal container, steaming slightly.

"Thanks." Zero nodded, continuing his massage with a worried sigh. "I should have known not to listen to you, the flashbacks get worse every time your dosage is upped or the serum is changed."

"No, I'll be fine. It's a good thing we came tonight, now I have some leads." she said, tucking a lock of loose hair behind her ear.

Yuuki changed her focus, as she popped a few strawberries into her mouth, trying to shake the dark thoughts aiming to creep through her mind. The worst of the attack had passed, and when the twenty-four hour queer phase ended, so would her flashbacks. Zero took the codd-neck bottles of soda and popped the marbles, reaching discreetly into his pockets for a small pillbox, dropping two Serum downers into her bottle. Yuuki picked up the spiked drink, taking a swig before wincing, making Zero laugh.

"I'm glad you think it's funny. Just you wait 'till we get back, I'm going to make you watch Charlotte's Web with me, then I'll be the one laughing at how you get all misty eyed over a dying spider." she muttered, spearing another strawberry with her pinky.

"Hey, Charlotte was the best friend a pig could ask for."

Zero stuck out his bottom lip in a mock pout, furrowing his brows as his eyes narrowed in a little huff. He busied himself with pouring the warm, thick blood into his own soda, sipping with a shudder. Whoever they had for the night as a Bleeder ate way too much sugar. Then again, it was syrup.

"You don't have to force yourself to drink that, you know? If it tastes bad then just tell them you're saving room."

"For what?" he asked innocently.

"For your trying-to-get-pregnant fiancee." she laughed, lips curling up as she eyed him strangely.

"Mmmnnn. I just wanted to hear you say it." he admitted with a smile, running a single finger through a few strands in her dark pony tail.

"You're not going to break me, you know." she said, leaning into his touch.

"Last time someone even accidentally bumped into you they came this close," he pinched his thumb and forefinger together as tightly as possible. "to waking up from a nap, dangling over the edge of the tallest building in Silver City."

"And I could have done it too, if I didn't blow out his brains with that bullet."

"Relax, I know that you don't normally like to be touched. Period."

"But you know that doesn't apply to you and after all, I-"

Zero placed a finger to her lips, shushing gently. His artificially violet gaze held hers for a moment, waiting until he was sure that she wouldn't interrupt.

"You don't owe me anything. Actually, _I_ owe _you_. But, I'm willing to call it even and ease that senseless guilt if you'll go with me to see the premier of The Princess and the Frog."

He tilted his head to the side, grinning goofily, making Yuuki laugh again.

"Why is that?"

"Because, if I go with you it'll look like I'm taking you to see it, they'll never suspect that I'm the one who wants to watch a chick flick for kids."

"Hmmm, I'd rather see something a little more psychotic, like... Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland."

"I'll take you to see that if you go with me to this one." he batted his eyelashes, silently pleading.

"But I'm not afraid to admit that I like those kinds of movies." she smirked, hitting his weak point.

"You're just plain mean."

His expression changed from playful to grave in a split second, eyes hardening like steel as he gripped Bloody Rose beneath the waistband of his slacks. Yuuki stilled as well, before her eyes met the server's. It was a false alarm, probably. She thawed partially to help take the food from him, reaching around Zero as he too loosened up.

"Is there anything else I can get for you?" he asked brightly, eying the couple with twinkling jade eyes.

"No, that's quite alright." Zero hesitated, unsure of what his problem was.

"Call if you need me. Make sure you eat healthy for the little one." he said while walking away, muttering under his breath. "Brown hair and violet eyes, that would make a cute combination..."

Zero propped his elbows on the table, resting his chin in his palm, staring after the waiter without really seeing. In his mind's eye, a chubby cheeked little girl blinked up sleepily at him, trying to keep her soft mahogany locks from falling into her lilac eyes, cooing gently as Yuuki cradled her between them. He would reach out to stroke the tip of her nose, making her sneeze and scrunch up her tiny face in anger, making Yuuki laugh as she told him 'She's got your glare.'

"So I guess you've already let me have your laptop, your cell phone, now, those are all lovely gifts but by all means, say nothing if you want me to keep your iPod as well."

"No one, touches, the iPod." Zero said sternly.

"I don't know what it is about that thing you want to keep so secretive." Yuuki said around bits of egg and chicken. "Your blood steak is getting cold you know."

Turning his attention to the dish, Zero frowned, smelling how they used a different Bleeder that might as well been consuming bowls of salt. He sampled the meat on his sensitive pallet, which would have been very tasty if not for the fact that it was swimming in the salty solution. Using the sweet blood, he successfully tried to balance out the two flavors, knowing that if he ever wanted to scour the city to collect information, he could go to Kiba's for part time employment.

"Ugh, they fed the Bleeder too much salt tonight."

Yuuki glanced over her shoulder at the pair of vampires that had been gossiping earlier. The one on the far side of the table was a small girl dressed in frills, blue eyes, blond hair done up in pigtails with ribbons matching her pink and black lace. The one who had spoken was closer, more curvy in a long cream cheongsam, her dirty blond hair arranged up delicately with pins. She was cutting up her steak, clearly upset with the quality.

"That's why you should have gotten the tempura shrimp, you can dip them."

With an opportunistic nudge from Yuuki, Zero passed back the little pitcher. The dirty blond gave him a questioning look, subtly studying his appearance.

"It'll improve the taste if you add sweeter blood." he explained, nodding to his own plate.

Hesitantly, she poured the syrupy blood over her steak, nostrils flaring in mistrust. Cutlery tinkling, she cubed a piece of meat to test, eyebrows rising when she realized that he was right.

"Bravo, you just saved some lives tonight." she smirked, taking another bite.

"Rukia hates salty things." the other blond threw out, taking the little pitcher for herself.

"Why don't you two join us?" Rukia smirked, inclining her head to them.

The pair could tell that she was studying them just as hard as they were doing to her. Feeling Yuuki's push from beneath the table, Zero slid out of the booth, everyone relocating with their plates so that the blonds sat on the same side.

"That's quite a pallet you have there. I'm Rukia, this is Usagi." she introduced in a sultry tone.

"Charmed." Usagi chimed, nibbling on another shrimp, uninterested in conversing with them.

"Oh ignore her, boyfriend problems, and you are...?"

Zero thought back over the past half hour or so of conversation, realizing that he had accidentally used Yuuki's real name. It would have looked suspicious if he were to change it now, but Yuuki was already introducing them.

"I'm Yuuki, this is Rei."

That's right, Yuuki was already ahead of him, since she still had trust issues. She must have noticed his mistake from the beginning, choosing not to alert him to keep suspicion at bay. Mistakes were rare for Zero to make, but it was easy to get comfortable and familiar with Yuuki in any setting. They were grabbing lunch, not going on a top secret mission, and he had allowed himself to relax. Either way, dwelling would do no good now, so he decided to shut up and eat unless spoken to.

Another thing Zero had accidentally revealed in their moments of 'normalcy'--the possible depth of their relationship.

"So, we're sort of new to the city, I mean, we've been here before on numerous occasions, but those were mere visits." she considered the pair over her glass of brandy, drinking deeply before continuing. "We're trying to keep safe, do you know of anything we should be weary of? Two, unescorted country girls like us aren't efficient in a big city like this. Tell me, are the clubs safe?"

"The human clubs are, and so are a couple of the open vampire ones, but you should be weary of places like this one in a closed environment." Zero shrugged, finishing his steak.

"I see. Well, we were heading out after this to go dancing, would you two like to join us?" Rukia kept glancing to Yuuki, watching her as much as she was drooling over 'Rei'.

Watching from the corner of his eye, he tried to gauge Yuuki's reaction, but she betrayed nothing of her inner thoughts as she conversed, just like she always had when meeting new people for the first time, and those who couldn't be trusted.

"We would," she smiled sweetly, nearly genuinely save for the way she re-tucked her hair behind an ear. "but tonight we're rather busy, we've been trying to add to our family and..." Yuuki blushed for effect. "but perhaps next time at Club Kitsune?"

"Ooh, sure. Don't want to disturb your night." Rukia nodded. "Before you go though, would you mind telling me anything you know about a Kaname Kuran?"

Yuuki paused from finishing her spiked soda, sending Rukia a questioning gaze.

"Who?"

This was bad, with her human emotions so close to the surface, Zero had to monitor the situation carefully to keep her from unintentionally slipping up.

"Come now, you haven't heard of the infamous Kaname Kuran? Truth be told, we came to this city to put in work as Bounty Hunters for the Senate. Since we heard that Kaname-sama was the new head of Yakuza in Silver City, we figured it was a matter of time before a price was put on his pretty little head."

"We heard that he was looking for his sister, so we want to find and protect her, since we know he'll eventually come looking for her now that he has limitless underground resources." Usagi added in her high pitched voice, wiping a napkin delicately over her bloody lips.

"We come here often, so we'll let you know if we find anything." Yuuki nodded at them, wishing for an escape.

Zero brought a finger up to stroke her arm through the lite sapphire cardigan, scooting minimally closer, turning towards her and bringing his lips to hover near her ear.

_"Yuuki."_ he breathed gently, making her cheeks tinge as red as the strawberries she had earlier.

Rukia and Usagi could only stare as they watched the couple before them. That simple finger was the only point of contact they made, but it burned a path down Yuuki's skin, making her stomach perform little back flips of excitement as a cool fear, as lazy as the buzzing warning thrum from Artemis, hover somewhere inside her, indecisive as to whether or not it should stay.

_"We should go home now, okay?"_

Yuuki nodded, not bothering to notice the shades of pink Rukia, and even Usagi was turning. Zero slid smoothly out of the booth, dropping a fifty besides his plate before he offered a hand to her, offering her that opportunity of escape. She thought it was rather well played out, using his looks as a distraction, and continued to play Dazed and Confused as Zero uttered again in his husky voice -

_"Goodnight ladies."_

Before escorting Yuuki from the dining area, not sparing them a parting glance.

(|===|_'_'_'_'_'|))'_'_'_')=------ .

"ღ*~+~*ღ"

. ------=('_'_'_'((|'_'_'_'_'_|===|)

"What have you got for me?" Takuma asked the girls as he cleared up the plates from the couple's dinner.

"We think we might have a lead." Rukia grinned wickedly.

"Be sure to report it, 'Rukia'." he smirked before taking the dishes to the back.

"This is a waste of time." Usagi sighed, nibbling on a stick of Pocky.

"I agree, but we might only have one shot, and if we don't have sufficient evidence then we might not get a second chance."

"We might not get a second chance if they discover whet you're doing."

"Don't worry, 'Usagi' dear," Rukia said, pulling out her cell phone to key in a text message. "I have everything under control."

**We have a lead.**

**Tell your cousin.**

**Come to Club Kitsune.**

**Bring Lucifer.**|**  
**

* * *

(|===|_'_'_'_'_'|))'_'_'_')=------ . _A Different Kind of Hunter_ . ------=('_'_'_'((|'_'_'_'_'_|===|)

_

* * *

_

*Oyakodon - A bowl of rice with chicken and egg. "Mother and Child" Ironically, I chose the dish without thinking about the previous statements, laughing aloud when I reread and noticed that Yuuki would try to eat such a thing if she were supporting the cover story of trying to get pregnant to explain her stress. XD

**A/N:** I love Kaname. Remember that. DX

**Review: **Tell me what you think? I will love you forever.


	4. Game Over

(|===|_'_'_'_'_'|))'_'_'_')=------ . _Game Over_ . ------=('_'_'_'((|'_'_'_'_'_|===|)

* * *

They hadn't spent very long at Kiba's, but had, in that single conversation with Rukia and Usagi, gathered more than enough information to keep Yuuki preoccupied with lugubrious musings, mind always wandering back to the subject no matter how hard she tried to distract herself. The shocking revelations made her heavy, tired from bearing the weight of those unsettling thoughts that would eventually lead to her restructuring her plans for vengeance. All Yuuki wanted in that moment was to go to bed, even if she wouldn't be able to sleep that day.

Zero led Yuuki back up through the darkness of the stairwell, through the soft jazz fusion floating about the club, and out once more into the hazy tangerine and black night. A light shower had fallen while they dined, a chill sinking to settle in the slippery streets. Yuuki shivered slightly until Zero gently draped an arm around her shoulders, careful to keep his touch from becoming overbearing. On the streets, or in a public crowd where there were too many wandering hands and never enough vigilance, Zero would grace her with that courtesy, for which she was grateful. He was always so conscious of his every movement around her, even in private. She wondered whether he did that because he felt she was too delicate, or because he was trying to be polite.

Either way she was happy to be so respected, but she wasn't a little girl anymore. She was becoming a mature adult with increasing desires, and his warmth and scent only added to them, especially wrapped up in the fresh, earthy smell of rain.

Upon reaching the entrance to the underground path in the back alley of the modeling building, Zero squeezed her shoulder gently, going ahead to open the door for her. Yuuki smiled at him in passing, almost jumping when she heard the heavy metal click echoing from the door, turning over a memory of a similar sound, from iron bars, somewhere in the dark corners of her mind.

_In the pitch black, ivory fangs were all she could see, shaped by dark lips, curved into a nefarious smile._

"You must be tired." Zero commented lightly, careful not to touch her again in case they pass anyone in the tunnels who would want to harass them with more snide remarks.

"Nah, I could probably go on a mission today, even if I just received the serum. Pseudo-humanity is better than none at all, it makes me energetic to know that I can still kick ass without vampire powers." she laughed, trying to brush off the awkward atmosphere. "I think Rukia was into you." she whispered conspiratorially.

"As if," he flashed a crooked smile in return, cocking a brow. "Then she must have been into you too, since I wasn't the only one she was staring at. I don't think the hunger in her eyes was for the food on her plate either. You gonna go lez on me, Yuuki?"

"Hmm, she was pretty cute." Yuuki admitted, surprising Zero. "But I think I prefer the frilly little blond instead. She's much cuter." she snickered as they entered the main Syndicate compound. "It reminds me of the time when you cross-dressed to apply in that strip club when we were sent to bust one of Rido's sex-ring operations. You looked so cute in that skirt, 'Zeroko'."

"You're just jealous because that one lesbian was checking me out." he sang.

Yuuki gaped at him playfully.

"She was trying to get you to check out, not check you out." she rolled her eyes. "That's why your drinks smelled so pungent, because she put three times the amount of chloroform you're supposed to use in there."

"Now that girl was clumsy. She was probably the worst 'assassin' I've ever encountered."

They passed a few people in the halls, ignoring the dirty and disgusted glances they were receiving as they made their way to dorm three hundred and two. Yuuki nodded in agreement as she swiped her key card, typing in the password so they could slip inside to the welcoming peach and cinnamon of their small makeshift home.

Both plopped onto the love seat, gravitating to their laptops. It was almost like a ritual that they performed every time they got home--they would deposit any sort of new information they learned into two flash drives, encoding them in a language only they knew. If anyone were to steal the information, they would find blogs about recipes from Yuuki, sports from Zero. Even if she was the one who liked sports, and he was the one who looked up online recipes. They switched laptops at that time, for the sake of uniformity, keeping that aspect of their internet history intact.

Zero browsed through the movie library on his Mac Tablet PC, passing the folders containing Marvel Movies, DC Movies, history documentaries, and psychological thrillers to his Disney folder, which he would absolutely refuse to merge with Marvel.

"What are you in the mood for tonight?" Zero asked, nudging her leg with his knee as her fingers clacked along the keyboard of her own Mac.

The ticking of the keys paused for a second as Yuuki considered his words, listing off in her head all of the ridiculously cute movies he'd shown her over the past few years, in his own, sly sort of attempt at giving her some aspects of childhood she never had. Her favorite so far was Lion King series--violence, a runaway prince, and love wrapped all in one. The political and beer references made her laugh, a great intrigue in her opinion.

"What's the one with the dogs?" she finally asked, perking Zero's interest.

"Which one? There's a couple of animated ones like One Hundred and One Dalmatians,"

"No, the one with the Cocker Spaniel?"

"Ah, Lady and the Tramp." he grinned, selecting the movie for them to watch. "I think you'll like this one."

Zero set up the movie, letting the preceding trailers stream as he got up to get ready for bed, even if it was early. He left for a few minutes to bathe, coming back shirtless in a pair of lounge pants. Beads of water sluiced down his bare chest and abs, a darkened towel drying his silver hair. His fresh, spicy-sweet scent caressed Yuuki's nose, stirring the blood beneath her skin.

He threw his old clothes into a small hamper before returning to join Yuuki on the love seat. His still-wet arm rubbed against the sleeve of Yuuki's cardigan, leaving spots of water on her and the material of the furniture, one of her pet peeves. She shed the cardigan, throwing it into the hamper in the far corner, adjusting the tank top underneath.

"Sheesh, Zero! You have to dry yourself properly." she moved her pink Mac to the coffee table, snatching the towel from his head to wipe it over his muscular arms and torso, inhaling deeply as she did so, ignoring his lopsided smirk. "Honestly, you have no idea how to take care of yourself, don't you? I don't know what you'd do if I were to die."

The silver-haired hunter caught her wrist, searching her soft chocolate eyes.

"Kill whoever did it, then die, in that order." he breathed.

_Oh this is the night, it's a beautiful night  
And we call it 'Bella Notte'_

The opening song played, accompanied by violins and singers with Italian accents, regretfully capturing their attentions.

"'So it is to all dogs, be they ladies or tramps, that this picture is respectfully dedicated.'" Yuuki read. "They're talking about you Zero." she laughed.

"So if I'm the tramp, then you're lady?" he raised a brow with a mock smile. "I can live with that."

"You're a dork."

Her smile was warm as she said it, meaning no harm. The two snuggled closer together, Zero holding her in a loose embrace now that they were away from crowds and the public eye. Yuuki pulled his arms tighter around her, resting her head on his chest, attention divided between the cute puppy onscreen and the silver-haired hunter. He rubbed his thumb across the back of her hands as the movie played, changing from scene to scene, until Lady and her love interest had a little tryst of their own.

Zero was beginning to feel restless as his eyes darkened further it was nearing that time again, that time where he would be able to take blood, need it, and he could feel his attraction to the girl in his arms intensify his burning lust. He had tried to get his fill of blood at Kiba's, but nothing could compare to her taste. He couldn't stomach the blood of another, which was why he had regurgitated every cell while he was showering.

Slowly, his head dipped, lips placing a gentle kiss atop her crown, teeth finding their way to the ribbon in her hair. With an effortless pull, the ribbon slid out from around her locks, making them fall in a curtain around her body. He could smell the peachy scent of her shampoo delicately balanced with her own scent, not overpowering. Yuuki's attention wavered from the movie at that as she shifted to sit up correctly, turning knowing eyes to him.

_"Sorry, Yuuki."_ he whispered brokenly, hating to do this to her.

"It's alright," Yuuki shook her head slowly, voice as gentle as his kiss, stroking his face with her fingers. "You don't have to be sorry. It's a part of what we truly are."

_"I wish it wasn't." _he smiled sadly, moving in to nuzzle her neck, keeping the hair around him as if to try and hide his shameful act from the world.

Yuuki's fingers wandered into his own hair, curling in the silver strands as her other hand wound around his back. She could feel his hot tongue dart out to moisten his lips, parting them further to prepare her skin, licking wetly, the heat soothing her stomach, quivering from excitement, not fear. Zero could feel her pulse racing against his lips, and his arms caged her, pressing her to him as he pierced her, drinking her sweet blood as shallowly as possible so that he wouldn't make her pass out. He could drink to the very limits of her life and it still not be enough, but he insisted on control.

It was because he could taste her emotions that he never worried about drinking from her, even if he hesitated all the time. The flavor of her blood indicated that she enjoyed the feeling of him latching onto her, the sheer intimacy, and the way he treated her like a woman every time. It was a very dangerous time though, for if his control were to slip for even a second, he probably wouldn't be able to control himself around her, and give in to the carnal beast that wished to take her.

Though Zero hid it well, there were times, right when he was on the verge, where he would move in a way Yuuki could tell just how deeply satisfying drinking from her was. He would unconsciously press against her just right and make her stomach pool with the warmth of desire, something she had never experienced before in all of her years of abuse.

_Only Zero._

"ღ*~+~*ღ"

"Lucifer!" Rukia waved from a dark corner at the bar.

She and Usagi had ran off to Club Kitsune once Rei and Yuuki had left, leaving Takuma at Kiba's, so he could gather more information, should any come along.

The strawberry blond spotted her from across the dim room, making his way across the dance floor full of ravers with a smaller brunette with spiky hair following in his wake. Both wore a white dress shirt and a pair of plain black slacks, odd, but not really attention grabbing.

"Rukia." Lucifer came to hug her in greeting.

"'Usagi'." the spiky brunette nodded, kissing her hand.

"'Hebi, did you tell you cousin about the discovery?" Usagi asked in a high-pitched tone.

"'Dokuga' is pleased that you two were able to find so much so quickly." Hebi rolled his eyes, ordering a drink from the bartender.

"Of course." Rukia scoffed. "If there's a bounty on her head then we'll be able to claim it for sure, then Dokuga will favor us over the rest of the gang, and we'll rise in ranking. I can taste the money now, smell it's gratifying perfume." she shook her head. "Dokuga-"

"Really, Ruka, you can say Kaname's name, it won't curse you, we're the only vampires in the club, I can tell, no one is going to shoot you tonight, not while I'm here." Lucifer said, impatient with their aliases.

"Akatsuki, are you implying that I take you home tonight?" Ruka eyed him wearily.

"If he's coming then so is Shiki." Usagi chimed, not wanting to be treated unfairly.

"Rima, nobody's going home with anybody tonight!" she fumed.

"Says who? If you won't allow me over then I'll take Rima back with me to our apartment." Shiki shrugged, sipping on his Dry Martini.

"I don't think so." Rima frowned. "Whenever you come over, we do something meaningful, whenever I come over, you just want to keep on trying me."

"And every time you've said no I've stopped, haven't I?" Shiki asked, raising a brow. "The men in my family have no idea when to quit, but I show restraint when it comes to you. It could be worse." he pointed out patiently, dropping a kiss to her forehead.

Rima pouted, but let it go, reaching into her clutch to pull out a special deck of tarot cards, given to her by 'the friend of a friend of a friend', which probably meant that they came from Kaname. She went through them, one by one, pressing her thumb in the center of the bottom edge, sending electrical currents through each card, some of them turning transparent, like glass, the others remaining normal.

"More assignments?" Akatsuki sighed, ordering a drink for him and Ruka. "I haven't missed doing those for the past week." he checked his pocket watch, heating the metal with his fingertips so the writing on the inside of the cover would appear, if there was any, but this time the metal was blank, reflecting his recent inactivity.

"Where the heck did you guys go anyway?" Ruka questioned, biting into the lime on the edge of her drink.

"Can't say." the guys said in unison, earning twin looks of irritation from the girls.

"Alright, then we can't stay. Not for long at least." Ruka glanced to the tarot cards, nodding at Rima to pass them out.

The cards were disorganized as they went from hand to hand, each vampire had to utilize their special power to locate which cards were theirs. Akatsuki located his quickly before passing them to Ruka, who made a game of it out of boredom while the others talked. She opened her small handbag, throwing her own cards one by one in a perfunctory manner.

"You're so unfair, Ruka."

"Oh bite me." she grumbled as she glanced over to him, feeling tipsy from the combination of brandy and tequila in her system.

"Whenever you want me to." Akatsuki answered cheekily, earning another eye roll.

Turning her attention back to the cards, she thumbed through the last three, none of them changing, none of them hers.

Shiki frowned in displeasure when he was the last to receive the cards, all of which were his. He was grateful that he didn't have to bite his thumb open to test them out, but he didn't exactly want to have them in the first place.

"I hate these things." he muttered. "They're so uncool." though he slipped them into his pocket anyway.

"We should get her home before she starts acting out again." Rima sighed, monitoring her friend's alcohol intake. "That, blood, I don't know why she get's so trashed whenever we only arrive in a town."

"Ruka hates change..." Akatsuki frowned, staring through the drunk, giggling blond into her past.

"I wouldn't know." Shiki said when Rima looked to him.

Moving on to other topics of conversation, they paid for the drinks and left the bar, out through the club, hovering around Ruka lest she were to stumble.

_"Really, how carelessly clumsy."_

A figure in a black trench coat emerged from the shadows, walking over to the corner of the bar the vampires recently occupied, ordering a drink for himself, casually slipping an item of his intrigue into a breast pocket.

_"Game over."_

"ღ*~+~*ღ"

Yuuki wanted to whimper, but kept her throat closed as she became dizzy. Zero could sense the change in her blood, the drop in her heart rate and immediately ceased his actions, removing his fangs, lapping at the welling liquids, trying to seal the wound. Somehow he had ended up pinning her to the couch, and he realized that their bodies had fallen in sync once more, meaning, that his dosage of the AntiVampire Serum would have to be upped as well.

_"Are you alright?"_ Yuuki asked, stroking his face.

_"Of course,"_ he muttered, kissing her forehead. _"You?"_

Yuuki nodded.

She was the one who was loosing blood, and _she_ wanted to know if _he_ was alright? He laughed, gathering her close to him, carrying her over to the bottom bunk of their beds, laying her inside and tucking the blankets around her. Zero located a small Tupperware container from the bedside rack, pulling out one of the chocolate chip cookies that baked for whenever he had to take sustenance from Yuuki. It would raise her blood sugar, thickening her blood in turn. She took the snack, silently thanking him. Zero turned to shut off the movie so she could sleep, but was surprised when a cool, trembling hand caught his wrist, pulling him back towards her.

_"I'm cold."_ she mouthed, wanting to keep him near.

"You can have my blankets." he said gently, reaching into the top bunk before his wrist was tugged down again, this time with more force.

"I'm a grown woman, Zero." her eyes were pleading, prominent dark circles becoming bolder along her face.

With a sigh, Zero conceded. It wasn't that he didn't want to lay down next to her, but that he wasn't sure if she was ready for such contact yet. Seeing through to his internal struggle, she reassured him.

"You have _never_ done anything to hurt me, Zero, I may have a phobia, but I know you're not like those men. If you touching me was the same as them, then I would have killed you the moment i figured out how."

He could hear the truth in those words, and even then, he didn't want to deny her much of anything she wanted. Hesitantly, he smoothed out the covers and lay beside her, him on the sheets, her beneath them.

"Zero...?"

"Yes?"

After a moment he thought she fell asleep, but was surprised when the covers were pulled out from beneath him, causing him to roll painfully into the wall.

"Yuuki what the hell was that for?"

"For being an idiot." she answered simply, pulling him close and draping the sheets around them.

It felt nice, well, after his head stopped smarting from its impact with the wall. She turned back around so that they were spooning, positioned back to front, Zero's arms around her, heart thumping wildly, body warming the tiny girl as they watched the remainder of Lady and the Tramp. Zero eventually drifted off, possessively cradling Yuuki, his face buried in her hair.

She, however, remained awake.

* * *

(|===|_'_'_'_'_'|))'_'_'_')=------ . _Game Over_ . ------=('_'_'_'((|'_'_'_'_'_|===|)

* * *

**Reviews: **Thank you for all that I've gotten so far. Tell me what you think of this one? Please and thank you, I'd love you forever!


	5. Ars Arcana

**A/N:** For those of you who don't like yaoi, sorry, but there's a small scene of it in the beginning. It **won't** be a common theme, and it's non-explicit, but it's there. I've debated about including it into this hetero story, but in the end am going to keep it for the sake of support.

The original draft of this chapter was around six thousand something words long, nearly twice as long as a normal chapter, so I split it.

* * *

(|===|_'_'_'_'_'|))'_'_'_')=------ . _Ars Arcana_ . ------=('_'_'_'((|'_'_'_'_'_|===|)

* * *

"I trust you, and I trust your judgment, but I don't trust them." muttered a blond as he looked out over the darkened cityscape from over the rim of his champagne flute.

He would much rather have drunk his blood from the bleeder themselves, but their contract prohibited him from doing so. Still, what he wouldn't have given to have a woman struggling in his arms as he pierced her neck. Meals were always more enjoyable in that sense...

"Then your loyalties lie in the right place, Aidou."

"Even Kain." Aidou continued. "And he's blood. They all keep asking me, Kaname-sama this, Kaname-sama that, it gets so annoying."

The two conversed from a leather couch on the top floor of a hotel suite. The remnants of their meal had already been carried away by the hotel staff, who had been sent away for the evening with instructions to not go anywhere near the nineteenth and twentieth floors, which Kaname had rented out for the evening to ensure privacy for himself and Aidou.

A separate room on the first floor was reserved for the bleeder, who they sent down with the staff nearly an hour ago. It wasn't as if she really needed the room, just that she needed to be seen alive for a little while longer. When all was said and done, and they left the hotel, Kaname would decide whether or not he would keep her around for food or reinforcement. Aidou was so lucky compared to her.

"Are you complaining about you position?" Kaname inquired with a quirk of his brow.

"Never. I enjoy being beneath you, yet still so close."

"And how much do you like being under me?" he asked, leaning in closer to the blond.

_"....I love it."_ he whispered, cheeks tinged red as the pureblood kissed his lips.

_"How much?"_ he murmured, reaching a hand around to bury in his hair, fisting a clump securely as his mouth pressed to his neck.

_"It's all I need."_

Kaname licked at the junction of his neck, sending shivers down his underling's spine. He laughed huskily when a soft moan slipped from the blond's lips at the wondrous sensations. He wanted to tease him, just a lot.

_"Hanabusa..."_

The whisper bound his heart as he began to pant lightly, feeling hot and heady from Kaname's attentions. Aidou wound his arms around the pureblood's back, seeking more from the intimate moment. Even if Kaname might have been using him for his blood only at this moment in time, it didn't matter. They were together, and that was what counted.

With a muted thud both men were on the floor, Aidou craning his neck, Kaname buried within its crook. The blond inhaled deeply, enjoying his leader's sweet scent. Both could feel the intimacy of the moment intensify when Kaname's tongue washed over his chosen spot on Aidou's neck, fangs nipping, testing the elasticity of the skin before impaling deeply, sending him into the throes of ecstasy.

No one, no one on that Earth could have possibly known the pureblood better than he--not Ruka, not Ichijou, and least of all Shiki, his relatives. Not even the members of the syndicate knew or understood him the way he could, and they were practically his family!

_"Kaname-sama..."_

The pureblood pet Aidou roughly as he drank from him, tasting the feral desire coursing through his blood. It was a wild, and delicious flavor, the more aroused he became, the more delectable the taste, so Kaname always teased him whenever he fed. His hands would wander along his limbs, trail along Aidou's stomach, pull on his hair... and every once in a while, to heighten sensation, he would brush against him 'accidentally', to make him writhe.

_"I'll let only you know this,"_ Kaname whispered, fangs sliding from his neck. _"About the real reason as to why I want Yuuki back."_

Her again? Aidou shifted uncomfortably, not liking the fact that he had mentioned her during their special, precious few moments together.

"Go on?"

_"Don't make that face, Hanabusa..."_ he said, nibbling on his ear.

Kaname pursed his lips when Aidou didn't relax instantly, considering pulling away until he felt the blond's lips press to his temple. He did pull back, to a degree to rest the tips of their noses together, searching the sky blue of his eyes.

_"I can't help it if I want to murder my dear sister in person."_

"ღ*~+~*ღ"

Yuuki wondered if anybody had found the pile of ashes and sand she had sprinkled like snow from the top of the forty story atrium. Had it even piled up noticeably, or was it to be considered dirt and dust and picked up on the next scheduled cleanup with a mop and bucket? More importantly, had anyone noticed that their company's VP was missing? Probably not. She wasn't stupid enough to use her Walther P99 in a public place during daylight hours, not one this densely populated at least.

It was easy enough to slip in casually and blend in with the random crowd of faceless people, though she had been cosplaying as a businesswoman to remain unnoticed. She knew that overconfidence would have killed Tachimiya one day, but to actually think that the knife she threatened him with from behind was a blade forged for humans? All because he couldn't detect her vampire presence? Either he was shameful, of the Serum was getting better if even that aspect could be suppressed. Donating her blood for the Serum research was really paying off...

Regardless, she had gotten what she wanted. Yuuki was now the proud, proud co-owner of Tokijin Incorporated, at least, Nakami Kurenai did, whose fang and identity now belonged to the assassin.

The little remainder of the night passed steadily into day. It was three pm now, a whole twelve hours since Yuuki hand-wrote a note to Zero explaining her restlessness and left the Syndicate building in a sleek, gray chameleon catsuit, and similarly themed business suit, which blended perfectly with the dingy overcast skies and concrete jungle of the city. If she didn't get back soon, she might not get the chance to sneak back into bed as Zero awoke, rendering her note unnecessary.

She couldn't, not yet. Yuuki had already gone on three solo missions to try and redirect her thoughts, which kept returning to the looming final confrontation with her brother. As she sat crouched over the side of a skyscraper, watching the city, she felt more like Batman than Catwoman, even if her clothes might have been more appropriate for the latter role.

"Dun-dun-dun dunnnn dun." she sighed the notes sarcastically, leaning further over the edge.

How nice it would have been to end all her stress, to jump from this building while she was more human than vampire and go crunch on the pavement below. The blood would spray from her body all over the ground, perhaps painting the wings that would send her to heaven. It was a weird thing for her to think about, contemplating her own death, but then again, hadn't she always expected, hoped to die one day soon? In her physical state, would she have really died? Would her head crack like a melon that easily, or was it still too dense to split open without the use of vampiric powers or hunters swords? Would she have died like a human, or like a vampire? Would her body be left intact or shatter?

Or worse, would her body stay that way while she was human, and then shatter once the serum wore off, and she stayed awake the whole time?

However it would have worked, Yuuki wasn't about to find out, not while she had Zero at home waiting for her. He had given her the opportunity to rebuild her life, and she would not destroy his by one selfish decision. He had done her a favor, and she would return it, wholeheartedly, not because she felt it was an obligation.

Reaching into her pocket, Yuuki took out a trio of fangs, proof that she had slain her given targets. She would present them to Kurosu and escape before he could dote on her. It wasn't that she didn't want his affections, just that she rather would not have spent anymore time away form Zero, lest he wake up before she came back.

She wandered lazily back over to the elevator shaft, not bothering to call it up. Yuuki wedged her fingers into the cracks, parting the metal doors much to their groaning protests. Falling five hundred feet to crush a cage in impact wasn't exactly her idea of ending a day of work, but neither was getting severe rope burns on her hands. Settling for an in-between, she swan-dived down the elevator shaft, passing a good twenty-five stories before grabbing onto the cables to slow her descent. Yuuki caught up with the cage as it stopped on the ninth floor.

There were people talking, laughing just outside the doors to the tenth floor when she pressed her ear to the metal. She would have to wait before exiting, lest she draw attention to herself or let any unsuspecting humans waltz in absentmindedly to become trapped within the steel shaft. No, Yuuki didn't feel like killing any innocents today.

The cage went up another two floors to pick up and release passengers before sinking back down again to the tenth, running in the order that it was called. Straining her ears again, Yuuki listened carefully for any sign of life on the other side of those doors. She heard not one footstep, not one sigh of anticipation for the cage that was so near.

The silence was her cue to escape. She wedged open the steel doors and slipped through just as the elevator began to rise, shutting in time to prevent her from being seen.

Being so close to the ground floor, Yuuki thought she would chance taking the elevator, this time like a normal person. The stairs had no escape route, and if need be, she could always punch through that elevator like rice paper.

Though she'd left enough of her scent around that one cab. It was time to go around the building to an elevator on the other side. She picked up a stack of papers sitting next to an office door, pretending to examine each one of them carefully as she headed around the perimeter of the building.

"I told you I can't! I have to investigate the last two shareholders for fraudulence charges with--hey, watch out!"

A man rounded the corner from inside of an office, running into Yuuki on accident. She had seen him coming, but decided to keep up her 'normal human' act and run into him. It would have looked odd if she were to jump spryly to the side at the last moment, and now both were on the ground, Yuuki pinned beneath his heavy mass, their things fluttering and crashing to the floor.

_"Yuuki... I'll teach you how to be an adult. Then mommy will be so proud that you've become a big girl. But we mustn't tell her, not yet. For now it's a secret, my gentle princess. You were born for me..."_

_She could feel how he crawled over her, curling, hunching over her body as she heard the metal buckle of his belt clank free, the tag of the zipper swiftly being pulled down as a thick and warm wetness entered without permission, her legs being pinned up above her head as her flesh stretched and tore. It felt like knives were sliding along her hymen as blood ran down to stain the sheet below. The wound healed instantly, thanks to her pureblood healing powers, but as he began to move back and forth, it tore open again, as if for the first time all over again._

_"Mmnnnn... Yuuki... so... ahh... small..." he groaned as his hand was firmly clamped over her mouth, washed in her salty tears. "Grnh!"_

_His mouth devoured hers, tongue plunging down her throat as heat poured into her stomach._

_"Hmmn, good girl..." he whispered. "How long can you last?"_

"G-get off." Yuuki fought to control her voice as she slid out from under the man, turning to gather up her papers before she left.

"I'm so sorry, are you alright?" the man asked, standing up and dusting off his business suit before turning to Yuuki to offer his hand.

"I'm perfectly fine, no need, just go away, I'm already late." she said skittishly as she turned to glare into his lavender eyes. "Rei?" she asked in his codename, taken aback.

No, it wasn't Zero, it could have almost been, except something was off. And besides, if it were Zero, she wouldn't have had that flashback.

"I'm sorry, no, my name is Tenchi, but do I look like your Rei?" he blinked, brushing silver strands of hair from his face.

"Um, no, I'm sorry, I should have been watching where I was going." Yuuki stammered, trying to calm down and focus on the now.

"Well, let me help you, miss...?"

"Tsubasa."

"Well, Tsubasa-san, you must be an angel, because I can see that you've fallen for me."

"Pfft, wow, you can't be serious!" she half-laughed at his stupid remark as she gathered her papers more carefully, knowing it would be suspicious if she left them there and kept going.

"No, but I have managed to calm you down some, so that's a plus." he nodded, helping her gather the papers, placing his stack on top of the one in her arms. "Well, I'm off. Here's my business card, call me sometime if you need any help, or if you just want to talk." Tenchi winked, picking up his own things and leaving in the opposite direction.

"ღ*~+~*ღ"

"It's nice of you to visit."

"It's nice to not have to beat you awake for once when I come to visit." Yagari frowned. "I've gathered the information you wanted, but the Syndicate's so large that it took longer than expected. it's been going through a major system purge, a lot of its members are being murdered and replaced by new blood."

"What's the death toll so far?" Kaien asked, looking through the reports.

"Forty-seven within the last month."

"It's like they're building a new Syndicate from the old..." he murmured. "Have any territories expanded?"

"Not even one." Yagari growled in frustration. "I can't figure them out. Since that pureblood took over it's been impossible to make any sense out of their movements. Just yesterday they framed two of their new bloods so they would end up on our execution lists. They also gave up control of Tokijin Incorporated to one of the new bloods that they wanted killed. TI is a central hubcap for their money laundering, and has yet to be linked to any official incidents. It's their lucky hub and they gave it up just like that. I can see the sense in letting it go if they're afraid of getting caught, but it doesn't match the pattern. By now they own half of downtown."

"That _doesn't_ make sense." Kaien frowned. "Or maybe it does... They might be trying to make a move against us."

"Or it's paranoia. That's a hard thing to say for this Syndicate, since paranoia is its foundation. The people that have been killed were the ones who were watching us for suspicious activity. We aren't under their surveillance anymore. Three of our double agents have confirmed it. It's like a whole different group, with a new name even."

"Go on...?"

"They call themselves_ Ars Arcana_. That Kuran kid is actually taking his time out to build a relationship with the authorities and Council. He's a damn compulsive gambler, one with balls at that. Rumor has it that he gambled his sister's own soul to the devil."

"What?" came Kaien's sharp question.

Touga raised a brow, wondering which part of the last speech caught his attention.

"He's been forging ties with the Vampire council, whose always had it out for him."

"Who else knows of this information, compiled as a whole I mean." Kaien asked, preparing to burn the documents.

"No one but you and me."

"Let's keep it that way, or we might lose precious lives..."

"Yuuki and Zero?" Touga inquired, watching Kaien's lips purse in confirmation. "Where are they now?"

"Yuuki went out on missions, Zero's probably lying awake in their studio right now. They'll probably only get a few hours of real sleep when she comes back."

"Tch, do you honestly think that they're even sleeping anymore? I wouldn't be surprised if they were up half the night having sex."

"You know neither of them are like that. The subject is too sensitive either way."

"The youth today is different from the youth of back then." Yagari counter-argued, chewing on a peppermint to keep his cigarette craving at bay.

"Zero is too much of a gentleman to ever force Yuuki into anything. You know this." Kaien sighed, tapping a pen on the side of his desk. "Get me a coffee and an advil please, my head is killing me. You can go after that."

Touga nodded, exiting the office to head to the food court.

"ღ*~+~*ღ"

It had started to drizzle lightly by the time Yuuki got back, misting over her until she became damp in her catsuit, which chaffed uncomfortably. She knew she should have kept that business cosplay, but the female side of her said she could never get the stain of the floor polish out, and she would have to buy a new one.

It was probably around four in the afternoon. Most everyone would have either been still asleep, out on missions, or turning in extremely early to prepare for another mission. She passed through the food court quickly, hoping that Zero was still sleeping.

"Where's that brother of yours?"

Yuuki's heart skipped a beat as she whirled around, drawing Artemis from its holster, squeezing the metal, filling it with her determination as she hooked the blade of her scythe against the neck of another hunter.

"You always were a little jumpy whenever I came up behind you like that."

"Yagari sensei, is it honestly that fun to mess with us? You know that no one in the Syndicate likes us, and even if they would decide to speak to us, it'd be to either berate, belittle, or pick a fight with us." she sighed, withdrawing the blade, which instantly transformed back into a simple, collapsible rod.

"Good. It builds character and keeps you two on your toes." he nodded, fingers itching towards his rifle. "That's why you two are the best damn hunters The Syndicate's seen, since my time of course."

"Few can even match your talents." Yuuki grinned, admitting it with a shrug. "Zero and I are still working on ours."

"You still have an aversion to calling him your brother?" Yagari asked, scratching his chin in slight confusion. "Well, I guess it doesn't matter now, what with just how close you two are and all. It's been an unspoken assumption since the day you were brought here in the first place."

That's right, Yuuki kept forgetting that Kaien and Zero were the only ones to know about her purpose of vengeance and the reason why she cringed at any word that meant 'brother'. She also saw how the few older adults, Kaien and Yagari included, talked and gathered, whispering about her and Zero, and about how certain they were that they would be wed to one another.

"Sensei, you know Zero has a vampire's sleeping schedule now." she sighed, thinking of a good end to the conversation so she could escape back to her room.

"I see." Yagari said simply, raising a brow as he watched her fidget minimally. "So I guess you'd want some sleep too?" he asked, purposely probing, just to annoy her.

"I am pretty tired." she considered, surprised when her voice suddenly matched the weight of exhaustion that was fast approaching.

"Then tell him I dropped by." he nodded as he headed out. "When you two aren't busy sleeping."

Yuuki caught the innuendo in that last line, thankful that he was still being discreet about his perversion as a courtesy to her, even if it was getting worse. He was probably trying to slowly get her used to it since the adult world was filled with more than its fair share of sex related content.

"I will. Thank you." Yuuki called, rushing off to the dorms.

After keying in the code, Yuuki snuck back into the studio, changing back into her pajamas, carefully putting away Artemis and the business card before dumping her catsuit into the hamper. Since no one was very active around this time, Yuuki decided to go snag a shower and think over her encounter with Tenchi.

Zero watched her exit through cracked lids, wrapping his arms around himself to warm them up for whenever Yuuki would return to his side.

* * *

(|===|_'_'_'_'_'|))'_'_'_')=------ . _Ars Arcana_ . ------=('_'_'_'((|'_'_'_'_'_|===|)

* * *

**Reviews:** Please, thank you, and I would love you forever.


	6. Closer

**A/N:** I wanted to give Yuuki and Kaname similar habits, but now I'm wondering if it sounds repetitive.

**Disclaimer:** Another thing that is included in this chapter, but will not be a common theme at all, is lyrics. There is a ringtone in here somewhere. I do not own the lyrics to the song Lying is the most fun a girl can have without taking her clothes off. It belongs to Panic! At The Disco.

* * *

(|===|_'_'_'_'_'|))'_'_'_')=------ . _Closer_ . ------=('_'_'_'((|'_'_'_'_'_|===|)

* * *

Though the encounter had started off as a disturbing one, to say in the least, even though that stranger looked like Zero, she wasn't going to let it shake her faith in him, just like how she didn't let the fact he was a male shake her trust in him either.

Yuuki shed the pajamas and made it to the showers without encountering a soul, a fortunate thing for them, since she wasn't in the best of moods at the moment. She turned the water on full blast, hoping that the heat and steam would allow her to relax enough to free her mind. She had much to think about, and even more still to ponder over what she would do about her situation with that_ thing_ she needed to murder.

But her mind wouldn't leave it alone. The resemblance! Surely there was some sort of connection, right? Two people in the same city didn't look identical for no specific reason, right? When Yuuki thought about it, she really didn't know all that much about Zero. She had no idea who his family used to be, whether he even had a family, or too much about his past, other than what information he volunteered from his time and travels with Kurosu.

After a while of soaking, Yuuki piled her hair atop her head, lathering two-in-one shampoo and conditioner in that smelled of sweet juicy peaches. She scrubbed with one hand as she rubbed a foaming bath poof over her slick bare skin. A minute or so of vigorous lathering had gone by, until she dropped the poof into a small basket and stepped into the strong spray, wishing that the soap and water could wash away the shame and fear she still felt every now and again.

Whatever. Because of_ that_, she could tell when a man was attracted to her, and she could tell when a man was good for information. Perhaps she could get some inner stats on the company's activity from, what was his name again? Tenchi? Weird name. It reminded Yuuki of an anime Zero used to watch when they were much younger.

Digressions digressions! Even if she was off the clock, which technically was never true for an assassin, she still should have made herself to focus. A mere aesthetic similarity should not have distracted her so, even with her hormones practically raging from his touch now-a-days. Tenchi was Tenchi, and he was a potential source of information. If Yuuki were to play her cards right, then she might be able to learn more about Tokijin Inc. from him, since it was an important building to 'the other side'. He had given her his card to play, after all...

Now that she was clean, it was hard to find a reason to want to stay in the shower any longer. The hour was getting late, and soon the hallways would be abuzz with conversation from passersby on both the human and vampire end. Whichever way she turned, Yuuki would catch hell, and that wasn't what she was intending to do, especially since she had kept Zero waiting for long enough.

Yuuki came back in naught but a towel, like she normally did. She didn't dare to bring a change of clothes with her, let alone keep the ones she wore to the shower with her again, just in case she were bullied while showering. It was rather uncomfortable to find a needle in her fresh clothes, or itching powder, or fleas, or even all three in one. Honestly, she would have preferred it that they did what elementary students did and hide her garments.

She opened up the wardrobe and tossed on the first camisole and shorts to touch her fingers, retrieving the business card she had been given to memorize the number provided. In her haste, her soft fingers slipped, slicing open on the edge of the card. She winced, hating the feeling of a paper cut as she painted on a coat of liquid bandage from a bottle on a first aid kit over the small laceration that would probably be gone before the second day ended, without a scar for show.

Deciding that she had dawdled long enough, Yuuki slipped the card back into one of her purses before sliding into the bottom bunk, right back next to Zero. Mind exhausted, she began to drift off...

_"Welcome home."_ Zero whispered, wrapping warm arms around her form, nuzzling her neck.

Yuuki instantly felt guilty.

_"Were you waiting up for me?"_ she whispered back, thinking that she would have at least been able to leave without alerting him by now. _"Why?"_ she asked when she felt him nod over her shoulder.

_"Because I can't sleep without you."_ he breathed, closing his eyes and inhaling her sweet, familiar scent.

And it was the truth.

_"Has Yuuki gone to sleep yet?" Kaien asked, wiping his brow of sweat. "Thanks for helping me take care of the kids while I'm sick."_

_"No problem." Yagari shook his head, closing his eyes for a brief moment. "No, the poor kid's still up, tossing and turning, it's like she's having flashbacks instead of nightmares."_

_"Did you give her the serum?" he sat up dizzily, worried for his new daughter. "It'll only last for a few hours since it's a prototype, but it should soothe her long enough for her to fall asleep."_

_"I can't get near her. She doesn't struggle, but she just starts crying whenever I come close. It's disturbing. I don't want her to think that I'm going to rape or abuse her, otherwise I won't be able to train her when she's well."_

_"It's heartbreaking..." Kaien muttered. "I guess I'll just have to administer her treatment. I'm more gentle than you are, so she might come to forgive me one day."_

_"Kurosu-san," a little voice said from the hallway._

_"Come in Zerorin."_

_"I'm worried about Yuuki. I can't sleep." he said, peeking into the bedroom._

_"Not another one." Yagari murmured, rubbing his temples, sorely tempted to light up. "Alright, come on." he grasped Zero's hand, leading him down the hall to Yuuki's room, Kaien following in their stead._

_"Good idea." Kaien coughed, staying back._

_They entered the pink bedroom at the end of the hall, standing in the door way. The little girl on the bed looked up curiously, taking an interest in visitors, something she hadn't done the week before. At least she was progressing._

_"Yuuki." Zero breathed, wandering over to her bedside. "You're okay now." he said, placing a gentle hand on her head. "I'll sleep here so you won't be alone."_

_"Zero, that's not a very good id-"_

_He lay on the floor next to her bed that comprised of a single mattress. Yuuki turned to look at him in surprise, before blinking sleepily and shutting her eyes, surprising Yagari and Kaien, who drifted to the linen closet to bring extra sheets to the silver-haired boy. Yuuki opened an eye as Kaien came to deposit the sheets, watching him wearily._

_"Goodnight." Kaien whispered with a kind smile, disappearing with Yagari._

_Everyone slept soundly that night._

"Hey,"

"Hm?" he asked, noticing that she had turned around to face him, eyes aglow.

"Let's just sleep." she mumbled softly, burying her head beneath his chin, kissing his neck before pulling back to press their foreheads together.

It had been a while since they were able to sleep so closely again, not since they had started puberty. Zero had to have a cool down period of a few years before he was allowed to touch her more intimately than a hug, implemented by Kaien so Yuuki wouldn't feel uncomfortable. Once Zero had realized the significance of adolescence versus childhood, Zero had put up his own barriers to protect her, barriers that Yuuki wanted to tear apart more and more with each passing day. It felt so good to be able to be so close to him, like they were in childhood...

But they weren't children anymore, and his inviting scent and arms were the only home she'd ever known.

Wait, strike that. It was the only home she'd ever want to willingly reflect upon and return to. As much as she loved her dear mother and father, she would have not given a thing to return to her early youth.

Where were they?

"Oi," Zero asked sleepily.

Yuuki couldn't help herself from tracing her fingers over his back, trailing them up to his face to rest her palm gently against his cheek.

"Un?" she asked, searching his heliotrope depths with her chocolate eyes.

"What are you...?" he trailed off, under her spell.

"...My Zero..." she whispered, pressing her softly receptive lips against his.

Both teens could feel their hearts melt, the room around them became hazy when Zero gathered her in his arms and rolled on top of her, leaving a thin, thin wall of air between their warm bodies, heat and electricity buzzing between them. The desire took on its own presence in the room. The silence was nearly palpable.

Was it really okay to touch her like that? It was in private, and he bore no ill intentions towards her, but he couldn't help but worry.

"Yuuki... I-"

_-Let's get these teen hearts beating. Faster, faster-  
-So testosterone boys and harlequin girls,-  
-Will you dance to this beat, and hold a lover close?-  
-So testosterone boys and harlequin girls,-  
-Will you dance to this beat, and hold a lover close?-_

Kaien was the only one who bothered to call Zero's prepaid cell with an anonymous ID. Though he was thankful that the intercoms were on the fritz, he was going to murder Kurosu for fucking his moment up.

"Hello?" Yuuki answered breathlessly, still staring into Zero's irritated eyes.

With a frustrated growl building in his throat, he coaxed the phone out of her hand.

"Yes?" he hissed, pushing himself off of Yuuki. "Understood." he sighed, deflated after a minute.

"What is it?" she asked, ready to go on another mission.

"Kurosu tou-san wants to take us out for some family quality time." he sighed again with a pronounced frown. "He wants to parade us around while we perform reconnaissance."

"Will we be incognito?" she asked hesitantly.

"But of course."

"I hope we don't all cross dress again." Yuuki moaned, clutching her sides. "It hurts to tape down my breasts."

"Not that you have much to tape down." Zero smirked, laughing when she glared at him like an upset kitten. "I'm only joking, there's nothing wrong with your chest." he touched her cheek with his fingertips, curling them towards his palm, tickling the sensitive skin. "Do you have a fever?" Zero wondered aloud.

Slowly, innocently, he trailed his fingers up to her forehead, brushing his hand gently over her forehead. Yuuki's eyes shone as her face reddened, earning a chuckle from the silver-haired hunter as his eyes shone too, heart happy that his simple, kind gestures could move her heart even now.

"Preposterous. I'm a vampire. They don't get sick."

"I think you are. For the moment, you're more human than vampire. I'll have to take your temperature. If it's too hot, then we can't spend time with tou-san. You'll have to stay here, so I can take care of you."

"Suddenly I'm feeling a sparse ill." Yuuki muttered.

_"Then I better hurry."_ Zero whispered, a breath away.

Zero's palm fell over her eyes, blocking her view as he kissed her chastely on the lips.

"What was that one thing you were going to say?" she asked, gently brushing his palm away.

"Just that... I like keeping you close."

Yuuki smiled softly to herself as she took his word for it, for now.

**"ღ*~+~*ღ"**

"We're going to be following up on a lead that Yagari-kun left for us." Kurosu began as he briefed the teens in private.

He could feel something radiate between them, but decided to ignore it, lest he exacerbate the problem of their focus on anything but each other. Kaien had nothing to worry about though, not really, as he knew that once they were on a mission, they would go about it professionally. Now that Yuuki had been debriefed on the highlights of her mission, they could start a new project.

"Yuuki, since you acquired partial control of Tokijin Inc, we'll have to put in a lot of effort to research it. We need to determine the cause of the recent events for Ars Arcana to sever ties with such an important cover company. Today we'll spend some quality family time together, but we will also be looking out for any information that seems useful in the slightest."

"But at the mall?" Zero asked, raising an eyebrow in skepticism.

"You two should be allowed time to act like normal teenagers every once in a while." he explained. "Besides, it's my understanding that you wanted 'take Yuuki' to see that new Disney movie?"

"Then what will you do?" Yuuki asked, cocking her head to the side in inquiry.

She was so cute when she did that.

"I'm going with you guys, but I'll be performing other tasks most of the time. We'll go to an early dinner, then the movie, but then we'll have to start on the reconnaissance right after."

"You mean all three of us are going to the movies?" Zero asked lightly, as if it were no big deal.

"Of course! You know how I love those movies." he beamed, enjoying the sour hint of an expression that crossed his son's face.

"Yeah, I really do." the silver-haired youth sighed, slouching forward over the meeting table, resting his chin in his palm.

"But then again," Kurosu stage whispered, leaning back in his chair thoughtfully. "I've been dying to see Avatar."

Yuuki's eyes went unusually wide with wonder.

"Ooh, I've been wanting to see that one too! Do you think we could mnhp plem hemm plup?" Zero poked his fingers into her cheeks, keeping her from forming coherent sentences.

Truthfully, he wanted to go see Avatar as well, but he and Yuuki had just gotten so close earlier, and there was supposed to be an element of romance in most princess movies, whereas Avatar held none. Zero knew what he wanted to go see.

"Who are we to stop you from enjoying that film? I guess we'll have to see the princess movie on our own." he tutted lightly.

Both Kaien and Zero, even Yuuki had an idea of what he was trying to do. While Kaien had struggled long and hard about exactly what level he thought their relationship should have peaked at, after rearing them as siblings and something more for so long, he was worried that their teenage hormones would make them careless, reckless when it came to each other.

Then again, they were all each other had, and what was he trying to do by taking them out and forcing them to behave? It was like keeping a starving dog from a steak, telling him that he could only have it if he promised to consume it slowly and use table manners.

They we're responsible kids, and Kaien decided that, if he could trust them to decide the path of life and death over the right people, then he could trust them on a little, two-hour movie date with each other. Besides, what could they do in there with all those people around that they couldn't do in private at home?

Suddenly, Kaien was rethinking how soon Yagari's words could become a possibility, if Yuuki were to first overcome her fears of the male population; which she could contain well when performing her job, which she never really thought about in private when it came to Zero...

"Alright." he sighed, giving a fond smile to Yuuki. "Perhaps I'll ask Yagari-kun if he would like to accompany us. It's been a while since we all did anything together outside of Syndicate work."

"Thank you." Yuuki gave a small smile in return, Zero nodding in agreement.

"So are we all clear on our mission? Dinner, then a movie, then research on Tokijin Inc, which shouldn't be too hard if you remain near The Cat's Cradle."

"Crystal." they affirmed in unison.

"Dismissed." Kurosu said with a nod, guiding them from the meeting chamber out to a dressing room where they kept disguises. "I'd rather you two cross-dress again, but this time it isn't imperative. We can get on fine with a simple change of complexion and hair, eye color, the usual safety standards. Also, Yuuki, we'll be enhancing your bust-line for extra security."

Zero managed to staunch a nosebleed before it could happen.

**"ღ*~+~*ღ"**

After nearly half an hour of preparation Yagari appeared in a huff, complaining about the fact that there was no emergency at the Syndicate, although fairly pleased to have been thought of as part of the family and included in the outing, no matter how annoyed he was about the fact that Kaien extended the incognito notice to him as well. Once settled down, he begrudgingly agreed to sit through a hair straightening and insertion of a glass eye.

The four left for Benibara, a more upscale restaurant near the mall, through the main entrance to the Hunter's Syndicate, an entrance that was rarely used. Everyone in the area who knew anything about the Syndicate was smart to the fact that its assassins never left through the front door, which was a very helpful sentiment when it came time for them to leave.

Zero, for one, was very pleased that the few harsh glares they did receive in passing through the halls were of jealousy at their transformed state, not hatred. He kept close to Yuuki the entire walk over, holding her temporarily sun-kissed hand when they crossed the streets, carrying her over puddles of water in the gutters that had accumulated earlier in the day, spilling into the crowded streets, and looking out for creepers who wanted to try and snatch her away under the artificial tangerine skies of night.

Every once in a while, Touga would rib Kaien, sending him a questioning look as if to ask him what he would do once his children became much more intimate, and what action he would take if it were to spill over into their work. Kaien doubted that they could be that irresponsible, but he was most definitely going to look out for signs, just as he intended to do with _the other thing _Yagari had mentioned.

When they got to Benibara, Zero even held the door open for her, following after once she had entered. Yuuki then doubled back and opened the door for Kurosu and Yagari, who stifled amused laughs.

This restaurant was different from Kiba's. Though it wasn't as lavishly or tastefully decorated as the upscale vampire haunt, for humans, it was very nice, and rather quaint. The atmosphere was definitely more friendly and calm, another advantage that Yuuki saw to being human, rather than the constant tense vibes between opposing vampire parties.

"So what are you going to do if they try to seek out more permanent arrangements?" Yagari asked under his breath, unwrapping a peppermint as he sat down in their assigned booth, cursing himself for not lighting one up along the way.

"Will you stop worrying? I'll deal with it when they bring it up." Kaien muttered under his breath.

He swore, even if Yagari acted like an aloof, insensitive vampire killer, Kaien knew he cared for those kids way more than he would have ever admitted. Yuuki and Zero were like their own children, vampire or not, no homo.

"Cross-san," Zero started, sliding into the booth after Yuuki. "I've been curious for a while now, Tsubasa and I come from different... starting points, and that fact is very evident, but though you said you adopted us officially, you still continue to call me by my former surname. Tell me, what do our family registers say?"

"I think it was just brought up." Yagari laughed quietly, crushing his mint. "Already wants to have a ceremony."

"And if we're both legally your children, have we been registered as_ those creatures _as well?" Zero held eye contact with Kaien.

"And there's his dedication to go through with it."

Kaien's face fell into his palm as he let out a small chuckle at his son's expense.

"Rei look! They have chocolate cigar parfaits!" Yuuki gave a half smile as she looked over the menu. "Are you even listening, nii-san?"

Zero's heart skipped a beat as a look of horror washed over his face.

"Y-Tsubasa?"

"Hm?" she asked, placing the menu on the smooth surface of the table before muttering an afterthought. "I should probably ask if they have a strawberry version of that.

"Rei-kun, your sister loves you very much, whether you're blood or not, so why not just enjoy yourselves tonight?" Kaien said in retaliation, watching a faint spark of amusement light in Yuuki's eyes.

"You don't know a damn thing about my people! Mark my words, you'll be sorry that you refused the offer."

The loud voice came from the kitchen, where a handsome blond with icy eyes and a pale complexion exited, wearing a dark, detailed leather trench coat. He brushed off some white powder, presumably flour or confectioner's sugar, from his shoulder before shooting a glare all around the room at the dining patrons.

"Keep your eyes to your plates!" he growled, exiting the establishment without another word.

Everyone at the Syndicate table gripped their concealed weapons upon sensing his presence. Yuuki would have shot herself if she had rested her finger on the trigger, knuckles white as she gripped the handle with all her strength. She could feel the metal begin to give way and shape around her fingers as the gears in her mind ceased to function. Her teeth grit.

Instinct.

She felt the instinct to kill surge within her. The most basic of choices presenting themselves to her as the scent crossed her path; fight or flight.

Flight was not an option.

Not with that vulgar scent that was wrapped so tightly around that man.

His _scent_.

Her blood began to burn.

* * *

(|===|_'_'_'_'_'|))'_'_'_')=------ . _Closer_ . ------=('_'_'_'((|'_'_'_'_'_|===|)

* * *

**Reviews: **I will love you forever! (PS Happy New Year!)


	7. Override

**A/N:** I had a big speech prepared, ready to insert to make it clear that just because I chose Kaname for the role of the villain in this fic, didn't mean that I was hating on him, (it's just that I think he would make a great villain) but I think I'll just place it on my profile instead. (It's already there.) I don't want to overflow this chapter's A/N with unrelated content.

A big thank you to** GlassTears8 **, **stabpinmonkey** , **nightdhade** , **Shrimp Chip **, **SkyLilies** , **Soah** ,** honey **, **Anna** , **KanameZero4eva** , and **The Black Rose 1995** for reading and leaving multiple reviews! Seriously, when I feel like quitting this fic, (which I'm ashamed to admit is somewhat often, because of a lack of ideas) you guys make me smile and continue to create, because you keep coming back. I love you all and even the ones who I haven't mentioned.

Sci fi and action perhaps?

* * *

(|===|_'_'_'_'_'|))'_'_'_')=------ . _Override_ . ------=('_'_'_'((|'_'_'_'_'_|===|)

* * *

Insubordination - not only was it a questionable act, but also very dangerous business, especially when dealing with yakuza. Kaname already had enough on his plate, and it was Aidou's aim to keep everything of lesser importance in order for his leader and lover... in his mind, filled with that one-sided infatuation...

Who cared? Aidou knew what he was doing, and he knew he would be rewarded most handsomely for his undying loyalty and dedication to the pureblood--he had solid proof. Never before had Kaname trusted anyone with covers, but there Aidou was, taking care of official business in his name.

One day, perhaps, they would truly become more.

Aidou entered Benibara, still wrapped in the pureblood's scent, which he wore with pride--a way to announce that he was someone who belonged to the most powerful man on earth, perhaps. He strode past the small foyer, past the greeter and back into the kitchen, using his nose to move past the cooking herbs and spices, to sniff out the most delectable human in the establishment. The last girl that had been their own personal bleeder had committed suicide, burning her body beyond even dental identification, and Aidou was tasked to find them a new one. As he approached the head chef, he noticed recognition spark in her eyes, which was quickly tampered down.

"We need to talk, in the back."

"What do you want?" she asked with a frown, stabbing a blade into a wooden cutting board where bloody, raw beef lay. "We'll talk right here." she folded her arms loosely for added emphasis.

"We've asked that you send one of your staff to replace the girl we let go, but you still haven't contacted us."

"We sent you our best chef and you just threw her out like scraps, and she 'killed herself' because of it. We aren't going to send you any more people if you're going to 'fire' them all." she laughed bitterly, clearly suspecting a hint of the truth.

"Remember when Benibara owed a large sums of money to a corporate chain that tried to buy you out? Remember who paid all of that money to keep your dream alive? Dokuga-sama? A personal worker here and there is hardly a sacrifice compared to loosing all of the hard work your family had put into this business." Aidou warned.

"I'll tell you what. We're turning over this restaurant over to new management. It's not worth being indebted to your damned Syndicate. I offered to be your 'personal chef' only a thousand times."

"Because of 'personal reasons', yeah, we get it. I know you just want to become someone special to the boss, which will never happen, not in a thousand years," his icy eyes flit down to her chest, where her name was embroidered into her smock in royal blue lettering. "Lily."

Lily's honey eyes flashed dangerously, darkening with anger and irritation.

"You don't know my reasons. You're a pampered and privileged son of a wealthy family, you know nothing of my aspirations."

"I don't give a shit about your aspirations. My only concern is my welfare, and that of Dokuga's. Everything else is just a game of time and numbers."

"A game?" she asked, considering the blond with a crooked smirk. "If you wanted to play games, then you should have said so from day one."

"I play the games, you get played. You're either using or being used, and you're the one with the shortest straw." Aidou laughed.

Lily joined in the laughter, the sound coming out hollow and sarcastic. Oh she was a brave one alright, didn't she even care about her own life and what the icy aristocrat could do to her? Had she any idea as to who, or what he was?

"You may be 'high-class', but you don't know everything." Lily laughed, as if enjoying a private joke while she twirled her short caramel hair set in loose curls. "I bet you're being played with as well, seeing as you're the one following orders and not giving them." she mused with an acidic smile.

Everyone in the back had gone tense in their work, doing their best to mind their own business, but not wanting to add to the already thick atmosphere. Aidou needed to calm down, or else he would lose it in front of all of the humans in the room. Why, why had he been ordered to kill no one?! Kaname was right, he needed anger management. The blond inhaled deeply though his nose, counting backwards form ten as he did so. What the hell did she know anyway?

The scent he caught was... intriguing to say the least. This person, this_ patron_ smelled faintly fruity, like something indescribable, expensive makeup and perfume loaded down with metal. Even with the stints, Aidou knew her taste would be purely orgasmic. Call it a hunch, but he really had a knack for picking out the tasty ones.

"Alright, I'll tell you what." Aidou sighed, just wanting to get the task over with. "If you bring me a specific patron in your dining area right now, then I'll overlook your insubordination, this time, and even throw in a little compensation."

"I don't send lambs out to lions." she said clearly, jaw tightening as she tried to keep from swallowing.

So Aidou_ had_ given her more credit than he should have. When would he learn that no one had half the brains he did?

"Go ahead and rough me up. Set the property on fire. What, you too chickenshit blondie?" she spat, getting in his face.

KILL, HER, NOW. That was the main thing running through his mind at the moment. For a moment Aidou almost resented Kaname for implementing that entire, 'do not kill' aspect in his orders.

The throw was meant for Lily, to shut her up lest she be murdered on the spot by the fuming blond, but she stepped aside, letting the fop of flour graze and spread along his shoulder, surrounding his upper half in a dusting of the white powder that got everywhere, in his nose, hair, eyes. He sneezed a few times before fixing a glare of death to the woman.

That little bitch was going to die.

"I'm tired of you people, so why don't you get all of your little friends, and we can have a talk, unless they're just as chickenshit as you are."

Aidou knew the warning signs. He headed for the door, lest he break his vow to Kaname.

"You don't know a damn thing about my people! Mark my words, you'll be sorry that you refused the offer." he growled loudly, exiting the swinging door into the dining area.

His eyes scanned the patrons, looking for the girl who matched the scent he caught, though his nose wasn't doing all that great. He was beginning to snot, a natural reaction for the body to have to clear sinuses. His eyes were drawn to a table where a beautiful woman sat, her tanned skin contrasting her wide ocean eyes, dark ebony hair sitting atop her crown in curls. Her full chest was still, body tense, as if she were holding her breath as she gazed at him. The male next to her shifted minimally, in front of the girl, his choppy golden hair and green eyes reminiscent of Ichijou back at Kiba's. Now that he thought about it, Aidou still had to visit him soon.

No matter. Aidou would just have to seek Kaname's permission, and that girl and all of her witnesses to that disrespect would be dead meat.

"Keep your eyes to your plates!" he growled, exiting the establishment without another word.

**"ღ*~+~*ღ"**

Even with her genes suppressed, Yuuki would have recognized that scent anywhere, asleep, without a nose, even in death--she would have been able to smell it on him, and recognize just who had been with that nameless blond.

Kaname's scent was all over him.

_"Yuuki, Yuuki sweetheart, oniisama has an owie from a bee. Can you kiss it and make it better?" Kaname asked, palming his length in her face. "See how swollen it is? It needs your love and attention."_

_Yuuki looked up at Kaname with big, innocent brown eyes, which dropped immediately to the engorged portion of his body. She cupped the red swollen head in her tiny hands and kissed the very tip, making him squirm in delight._

_"Ahh, Yuuki, mnnn... kiss it again? Please? Pretty please Yuuki?"_

_She knew very well that one kiss didn't always make it okay, and gave him another, smiling and giggling when she saw her oniisama turn shining eyes to her, petting her hair gently. Yuuki was doing a very good thing, comforting her beloved oniisama.  
_

_"Again..." he moaned, holding her hair back. "Like when you're drinking energy from me. Lick it with your tongue."_

_Once more she kissed him there, licking as she was told, tasting a warm bead of bittersweet salt in her mouth._

_"You have to suck the bee sting out baby, or else it'll keep hurting."_

_"It's too big for my mouth oniisama." she looked up at him, his liquids mixed with her saliva running down her chin, making Kaname's member throb._

_"I'll help you." he grunted huskily, pushing her head down, choking her on his length._

_"Mnn!"_

_"I need to go."_ Yuuki whispered urgently, eyes wild behind her blue contacts._ "I can **smell** him."_

"Do what you need to do." Kaien nodded grimly.

"I've got you." Zero added, sliding out of the booth to let her pass. "Oh how I've waited for this day."

The two exited the establishment, Yuuki absolutely stressing over the situation. Catching him would mean some answers. Catching him would mean that she could possibly find the whereabouts of her brother, and torture him in a way only she had seen for so many years. She could feel her heart racing, ordering her to hunt him down like an animal.

She followed the scent through the thick crowds along the crowded city streets, Zero less than a step behind her. Yuuki's emotions were raging out of control--the blood in her body was beginning to eat away at the Serum in her system. She could no longer feel the comforting weight of the shackles of the Serum within her, only a seductively dark force that craved for death.

"Your scent's changing." Zero panted with a growl, picking up on her biological changes.

Crimson teardrops fell from her eyes as she followed the scent, turning into an intricate network of alleyways in the heart of downtown. The dank, damp and filthy atmosphere grew thick around them as the air got colder from the standing water around them, the brick reverberating only the eerie whispers of human activity on the streets.

"This is the first time I've ever faced this kind of situation, I think my body devoured_ it_." Yuuki informed him in a shaky voice, drawing a crackling, protesting Artemis in one hand, twisting at its seal along the top of the collapsible staff. She withdrew a single, thin glass vial no thicker or shorter than a toothpick, sealed at both ends. In its center was a mixture of metallic silver and scarlet, both fighting for dominance.

They stopped at an intersection between the alleyways, the scent splitting into three different directions.

He knew they were following.

Yuuki took deep breaths through her mouth, tasting the air and heat along the three pathways, sickening herself to know she was acting like a vampire, like an animal with instinct as its only guide. But if she could capture the blond, it would be worth it. She could always get another injection, but this sort of opportunity didn't present itself every day.

_"Cover me."_ she whispered fiercely, rushing off to her right, heels not even clicking against the concrete.

Zero's presence faded as he followed her orders, probably climbing fire escapes and watching her from above. As she nearly overshot the distance she wanted to run, Yuuki realized that she had to calm down. Her vision sharpened painfully, and every single movement in the alleyway was magnified, no matter how small.

An unnatural whisper of cold crept upon the back of her neck, making her hairs stand on end. The alley had suddenly become too quiet, with a false sense of serenity.

_"Come bleed for us, little girl."_

**"ღ*~+~*ღ"**

"I don't understand the situation here." Yagari sighed, looking to Kaien. "I've suspected that Tsubasa's been looking for something for a long time, I just don't know what it is. Does it have something to do with the way Rei reacted earlier?"

"Un," Kaien sighed, flipping through a menu.

He pulled his phone from his pocket, sliding it open to reveal the tiny keyboard as he thumbed in a quick message, tilting the phone so only Yagari could see it.

**She has a score to settle. You should ask Tsubasa if you want the details.**

Yagari pulled the phone towards himself, holding up his menu before thumbing back.

**Something tells me she's uncomfortable about the whole 'family' setting as a cover. We both know Rei finds it a nuisance, especially when she acts like he's her sibling in public like that.**

Kaien nodded, continuing the conversation through text. They didn't dare to actually send the messages, since phones those days were so easily hacked or misplaced.

"Um, sirs, I'm not... too sure what you're doing behind those menus, but this is a restaurant. Are you ready to order?" a girl approached them cautiously, red ponytail bobbing behind her.

Yagari grimaced, almost sick at the thought at being up to something intimate with the idiot Head of the Hunter's Syndicate. He pressed a few buttons, effectively erasing Kaien's text and opening a photo file before dropping his menu to the table, revealing the phone and a picture of a Delorean with its doors open, suspended above the car.

"Sorry." she frowned, instantly contrite. "Are the other two in your party not returning?"

"No, they'll come back. We'll order for them... Sukiyaki?" Kaien asked, looking to the other hunter.

"Doesn't matter to me. Free food is just that."

"Sukiyaki, and some strawberries... Two virgin daiquiris of the same flavor and two regulars of lime."

The waitress penned down their choices before offering a smile as she whisked off to another table.

"Rei should be the only one who needs medicine, right?" Yagari asked, eying Kaien as he pulled a small pillbox out of his pocket.

**You know the shot was made from Tsubasa, if she becomes too excited or distressed, her body might eat it.**

The text might not have made sense to anyone looking on, but Yagari understood just what he meant. Since the sterile version of the AntiVampire Serum was derived from Yuuki's blood, the iron chemically altered, it could still be reabsorbed and destroyed by her system. It was a delicate balance, and Yuuki had to remain as stress free as possible, which Zero was already more than willing to ensure.

Yes, it was very dangerous if Yuuki, or Zero for that matter were to receive the Serum solution laced with obedience genes, since they had such a high concentration of Yuuki's blood within their system. The blood was absorbable by vampires, and that was what delivered the concentration AntiVampire element, but to ensure that there weren't deserters, at least, to ensure that they didn't live long, Kaien had to lace the Serum with something to keep them from becoming dangerous to the Hunter's Syndicate.

The problem was, what would he lace it with? He couldn't just melt down their enchanted weapons and stick mix it with the blood--there would be no way that it could work. Eventually Yagari suggested that he lace it with low levels of mercury, which was what they could enchant with the hunter charms.

It was rather primitive, actually, soon they would have to start up research on the Serum once more. Either way, if Kaien's suspicions were correct, then Yuuki would need a blood tablet once the ordeal was over.

"I'm worried about them." Kaien sighed, passing a drink to Touga, effectively pulling the raven-haired hunter from his thinking stupor. "But they're too old to not be able to handle a single person on their own, especially with so many advantages in their favor."

"Do you still give blanks to their opponents?" Yagari couldn't help but ask as he took a long draught from his daiquiri.

"I haven't in years. The world doesn't face them that way." he replied, touching the tip of a small glass saltshaker. "Blanks..."

Kaien picked up the shaker, eyes running over its small, capsule design. He marveled at the smooth texture of the glass, at just how aerodynamic and deadly the design could have been. When squeezing the container in his fist, an idea was born. He presented the shaker to Yagari between his thumb and forefinger, rolling back and forth along the tips of his digits.

"This is a whole other level. We're going to need new equipment." he smirked, positively ecstatic.

**"ღ*~+~*ღ"**

Her heart stopped, tremors wracking her body when the line was delivered.

This was no time for a flashback, not now. Yuuki steeled her nerves and turned, pulsing life into Artemis, the curved blade emerging as it hooked around the blond's throat. She swung around behind him, leaving a welt line along his neck from where the blade pressed, but didn't slice open his throat. No, Yuuki needed to keep him from getting hurt on her hunter's blade, otherwise she would kill him accidentally. He had to be alive.

"You..." he breathed, keeping stock still. "Your scent's changed from the last time I smelled you."

"So I've been told." Yuuki mused in her silkiest voice, bringing a finger to caress the shell of his ear.

She couldn't help it. It certainly had been a long time since she played with the enemy, at least since the last time she had hunted with her pure blood unrestrained. Perhaps it was the Kuran blood running through her veins, that caused her to act so… intimate with her prey. It was disgusting, something she should have been completely opposed to, but it turned her on to know that she had such control over the life, death and actions of another person--it only added to the thrill of being an assassin.

Yuuki wondered if Zero could see her, and what he was thinking about if he was watching her pet the blond.

"You have such a nauseating scent about you as well." she growled. "But let's cut to the chase--who are you working for?"

"I work for no one but myself." he insisted stubbornly.

A fist connected sharply with the side of his face, snapping his head to the right as his jaw broke, already beginning to heal.

"S-sort of kinky, aren't you?**_ Argh!_**"

Fingernails dug through his trench coat, grasping his balls along with a handful of material.

"Yeah, if you want to think of me that way," she chuckled, increasing the pressure on her grip until he turned red. "then you better be sadistic."

She fingered the glass shard, inserting the tip along his back. It didn't take much to pierce through his clothes and lodge the hollow vial in his heart.

_"Now you listen."_

**"ღ*~+~*ღ"**

It was impossible, how the hell could Aidou let his guard down? The scythe had surprised him, but what was more, was the strength behind the punch that had broken his jaw. That girl, whoever she was, happened to be one of the most ruthless females he had the displeasure of meeting, and he had known Ruka forever.

The sleek and sharp object that pierced through to his heart was the most surprising of all, especially since he wouldn't die from the damage--he hadn't been cut with the hunter's weapon. What was she waiting for?

"You're going to by my personal lapdog." she said, flicking his ear. "You'll come to me when I tell you to, and you will provide me with information about whatever activities you are participating in, and you won't lie about it, otherwise, the crystal I put into your heart will explode. Now, don't think about going and removing it just like that. It's too fragile, and any attempt will also break the glass, turning you into a vampire bomb, taking out yourself and anyone else close to you within a hundred foot radius."

Aidou's hand twitched, trying subtly to move it up to his heart, to at least take the dangerous girl with him.

"Oh I'd like to see you try to kill me with that method. That's my blood withing that crystal, you see, and another classified substance. The explosion won't effect me at all."

"You bitch." he growled, uncertain to what he should do.

"I'd keep calm if I were you. The heart rate of liars are irregular when they speak an untruth. It could fracture the vial if your heart were to become too excited. If you think I'm lying, then go ahead and try it out. Tell a lie to your beloved Kaname Kuran."

His heart faltered, the crystal fracturing as she said it would. Aidou's eyes widened in horror as he could feel and hear the fragmentation, wondering about his longevity.

"I forgot to mention," she said nonchalantly. "If you receive any sort of shock to the heart, then it could trigger cracks as well. Sorry about that. You might not want to risk any more of them, since you might not be so lucky next time."

The smirk in her voice was apparent, which would have been sexy, she wasn't going to murder him. Still, he hardened considerably, as he thought about Kaname, even trapped in the girl's grasp. There was a sadistic quality about her that reminded him greatly of the pureblood's cruelty.

"I'll call you." she smirked at the joke disappearing from the immediate area.

The blond had to remember how to breathe.

**"ღ*~+~*ღ"**

"I'm so lucky to have found someone like you here."

Zero was too focused on the situation below with Yuuki and the blond, that he didn't notice the other vampire creeping up on him. The hunter turned, intent on murdering whoever had come to oppose him, but he was too slow.

A single gunshot rang out into the alleyway, followed by the sound of Zero hitting the metal grating of his fire escape perch.

* * *

(|===|_'_'_'_'_'|))'_'_'_')=------ . _Override_ . ------=('_'_'_'((|'_'_'_'_'_|===|)

* * *

**A/N: **Why must I always get ideas to include into fics that would require a lot of real world study? I researched forever on chemical the reactivity of mercury to other elements, just to try to be sure that it wouldn't have a chaotic reaction to the iron in blood. Curse this analytical side of me. I'm thinking in the next chapter it'll get worse.

**Reviews:** Please, thank you, and I would love you forever!


	8. Bloody Shadows

**A/N:** Purebood fight scene.

Listening to - One Winged Angel ;) (Both versions, Metal Version more so) / If I Was Your Vampire

There are distinguished contrasts in this chapter. :) I hope I made Kaname sufficiently badass (read: insane) enough, as I'll be fretting about that from the moment I post.

Lately, I've been having trouble with not being able to cut out certain scenes due to their necessity in the plot for the chapter/set up of the next, so this chapter ended up being extra long (by 2k+). Think of it as an apology for being away for so long. Thank you to everyone who offered me words of encouragement, and to **Shrimp Chip** , who checked up on me, and probably was the one to get this chapter out of me before summer.

* * *

(|===|_'_'_'_'_'|))'_'_'_')=------ . _Bloody Shadows_ . ------=('_'_'_'((|'_'_'_'_'_|===|)

* * *

It felt so damn good to have an adult body...

The frigid moonlight leached color from everything, blending the tall figure, high above Nocturnal Aria, in with the midnight and porcelain. His black traveling cloak billowed out like a whisper behind him as he tread the frosty edge of the Ouri penthouse suite, ice crunching beneath his feet. His dark hair fluttered wildly about his face, partially obstructing his view down into the elegant drawing room from the glass roof. Kaname watched in superior delight as his shadow fell across the back of his pureblood prey. Ouri turned to face his intrusion head on, muggy, scarlet eyes fraught with acceptance, ready to face the inevitable.

"So you've come for me." Ouri's silky voice mused, his countenance bored, unimpressed with the younger pureblood. "It took you long enough."

Though several yards and a wall of glass separated them, the statements were made calmly, in a soft voice no less, as if the two were standing in each other's company.

"Forgive me," Kaname smirked, an edge in his feigned playful tone. "But I believe you owe me an explanation."

Ouri's frown deepened, the lines etched into his face aging his countenance by ten years. His tired eyes searched Kaname's, the nimble digits of his mind grasping the familiar dark power from his center. Though he accepted his fate, Ouri was still stubborn, keeping his head level, never craning his neck, never conceding his authority and dignity as a pureblood to another. It would buy him some time to assess the situation at hand, and determine whether or not he could test Isaya's theory.

"Who owes an explanation to whom? What would a king want with someone he considers to be of equivalent worth as a mere pawn? What goals do you think you'll reach by taking out one of your own kind, aside from the obvious boost in power. All of my assets have been iced, and you gain nothing financially, not to mention that my companies are instructed to fold upon my death."

"Hmmn, do you think you can talk me down?" Kaname cut a short, harsh laugh. "It's a gamble, but it wouldn't hurt me if I were to miss out on anything else you have to offer. But enough about me, why are you trying to stop me when your every pore radiates absolute joy from facing the prospect of your potential end?" his voice ended in a short whisper, his eyes glowing crimson.

"Who said I was trying to stop you?" Ouri quipped, deepening the shadows of the room. "I wasn't about to risk your shell, but, apparently, there is nothing left to preserve."

"You're right." he allowed, eyes narrowing as he stalked closer to the edge of the glass. "So I doubt you'll mind if your life is forfeit to my personal cause?"

"The predator will have to earn his prey, Kuran." Ouri murmured, grazing a taloned finger against the pulse in his neck, directly behind his jaw. "Let's test that body of yours." he smirked, cutting into the artery, a scarlet spray falling in streams over the white rug and polished wood floor in splotches of black.

Ouri's eyes shone like rubies as the shadows sprang to life, bound by the will of his blood. Kaname couldn't move for a moment beneath the powers so many centuries older than his body, the bloody shades binding his shadow, before they faded into oblivion.

Way cleared, Kaname's eyes shone crimson like a demon's, shattering the glass ceiling between them, light scattering around the room in a shower of diamonds and moonbeams. He vanished only for a moment before reappearing behind the older pureblood.

"So much for your shadows." he laughed, thrusting his fingers in an effortless arc.

The blow effectively severed flesh, head from body, a fountain of blood pouring from Ouri's gaping neck as his head shot up through the remaining rain of glass. The bits and shards melted as they came in contact with his aura.

"There have always been shadows. Light is the intruder of this realm, as a vampire, you should know this. No matter how much light there is, a shadow can always be created, no matter how small."

Not even a second had passed from the decapitation as a thousand shadows pierced through Kaname's form, the heavy impact sending him flying into the opposite end of the room, the far wall folding and crumbling around his form in crippling agony. Ouri held out his hands to catch his head, placing the two searing ends together to let them knit together, leaving nothing but blood to tell the tale.

"Is that the full extent of your power?"

"I'm just getting started." Kaname laughed huskily, "You children have forgotten how to use the beast within, when your bodies are so well adapted to bear the burden, much more so than the bodies of your ancestors."

Cracks resonated in the air, the metal of the infrastructure warping here and there as Kaname's aura changed, becoming more feral.

"I take it you consumed the Hanadagi then?" Ouri laughed, licking a splotch of his enemy's blood from his hand. "I can taste their scent in your blood, as if your changes weren't enough to sound the alarm."

"They were asleep, it wasn't even much of a challenge, as if they were already dead." he snarled quietly, the air around him boiling, melting nearby objects.

Kaname's aura flared as he doubled over, the intense heat too damaging for Ouri to get near. The older pureblood drew his darkness into a cocoon around himself, the blood he had spilled giving density to the shade creatures with their inhuman form. A few wrapped around his arms, snaking down to entwine themselves around his wrists and fingers, like silky gloves, two pairs of shadow windmills, shuriken forming, hovering behind him. Their edges dripped with venomous life, singing, resonating, anxious to bite into flesh.

Bloody black leaked from Kaname's wounds, trickling down his body and forearms, soaking through his shredded clothes. It should have attracted thousands upon thousands of vampires, not only for two purebloods to be locked in combat, bloodshed impossibly inviting, but a member of the Kuran clan, no less. That alone should have brought them in colonies, but the impenetrable aura of the Ragnarok slaked their thirst, for the time being. Both purebloods could feel them, the aristocrats and commoners stirring from their feigned slumber to reach out with their desire for death.

It was an audience, cheering on for the bloodbath, their poisoned wishes invading the night. The sheer power of their desire enraptured Kaname, driving his hunger, his greed. The poised, graceful assassin he intended to be was no more on the inside, devoured by the carnal instincts of his youthful body.

Flesh stretched and mended, ceasing the blood loss along his midsection, spreading to his arms, though his wrists stay weeping. He kept his spine straightened, like Ouri, never conceding his rank to the other as a bloody grin split his lips, his protruding fangs the only things glinting ivory in the pale moonlight. A trio of curved blades spilled into the air, like all the other spilled blood, like the shadows, as black as night.

"Three of a kind beats two pair!" Kaname cackled, springing forward.

The elites began to dance, back and forth, blades striking, sparks flying to light up the dark, dispelling bits of shadow wherever they flew, only to have them reform before the holes would be noticed. Too fast for the eyes to keep up, they gained momentum, Ouri's body sustaining heavy damage as he dealt only half back. It didn't matter whether or not Kaname landed a hit—the path on which his blades sliced threw the aura of his beast forth, sending deep gashes and lacerations into the skin of his enemy.

Ouri retreated into a dark corner, fading through the tendrils of shadow into the next room over, Kaname demolishing the walls and bookcase to follow after with a simple X slash of his blades.

The room was calm and untouched, Kaname deciding to demolish the far wall until he got to his prey.

He noticed a moment too late the encroaching attack of the elder pureblood. He tried to dodge, to push off the ground for the safety of the rooftop ledge, but the shadows trapped his boots like cement, unwilling to break beneath the weak power of what was meant to be a light spring. The shuriken sliced through his body before he had time to parry the blows, effectively shredding him into five pieces amongst the four weapons, one of which piercing his chest, through his heart. Another cleaved his skull in two, the rest shredding his body at the knees and torso, intestines, gray matter, blood and bone exploding and splintering from his would-be corpse.

**And what if I fought you with my full power?**

"Now I'll never get the stains out of my carpet." Ouri sighed, flicking the bloody shadows from his fingertips as he turned skyward to assess the damages to his suite.

Kaname pulled himself together, literally, enraged by the fact that he had allowed himself such a foolish opening. He could hear the words echo in the back of his mind, piquing his curiosity that would have to wait to be sated. He reached into his boot for the wrapped hunter's blade, lunging for Ouri's heart.

**Because I promise you, I won't be the one to die.**

Shadows wavered and simmered in the air around him, rippling like water as Kaname closed in for the kill

**At least not tonight.**

He was a second too late to avoid the blow as he turned, Ouri that was, stunned eyes trained to Kaname's shocked expression. His heterochromic orbs wide, left and right, crimson and chocolate.

"...he was..."

Blood poured from Ouri's mouth, drowning out his words as the younger pureblood latched onto his neck. The attack was more mechanical than anything, like a simple instinct he had to obey. Ouri could feel the shivers running down Kaname's spine. He could feel his consciousness fading away as his life was consumed byanother, his body cracking into bits, the lines spreading outwards from his heart that sheathed the hunter's dagger.

_"ღ*~+~*ღ"_

It wasn't as if darkness was a frightening element to be engulfed in upon death. For Ouri, it was very peaceful, very comforting to know he didn't have to continue aimlessly anymore. He understood, he truly did. His demise had cleared the fog, allowing all the knowledge that was barred from him before to flow into his mind easily. A dormant presence drew the interest of his dying consciousness, intriguing him into staying moments longer._  
_

**_Well what do you know, Isaya was right. You're like the moon, you steal your light from the sun.  
_**

_You don't know what it's like to be locked up for fifteen years, witnessing sinful atrocities carried out by your own hands, unable to prevent any of it from happening.  
_

_**Purebloods fight.**_

_How can I fight when I have no strength of my own?_

_**Were you born sickly?**_

_...**  
**_

_My frailty was... always of my parent's concern. It's draining to know that there's nothing you can do but cling to a life you want to discard._

_**So why are you still here?**_

_...To see the sunshine again._

_**I see.**  
_

_!!!_

_**Power, like desire, is nothing without determination. You'll gain my strength, but him, my ability.**_

_...I don't know how to thank you for this..._

_**By finding Isaya...**_

_Who?_

_**...**_

_Hey,_

_**...**_

_..._

_.._

_._

_________________________________  
_

**"ღ*~+~*ღ"**

Though the thin, cold mist that had settled in between the concrete jungle of skyscrapers, Yuuki emerged with nary a scratch on her body. She was trembling with rage—rage at the thought that she had been so close to Kaname, yet so far away. In the pit of her stomach, excitement and disgust pooled. Of course it was natural for to be mad as hell, frustrated even, but the sensations that began to accompany her stress, that wetness—it disgusted her to no end.

And as she grew, she had to ask herself—were she not repeatedly abused during her childhood, would she today be a sexual creature? Kaname had only been two years older than her at the time it happened. Would she have reached sexual maturity so soon? Did all vampire children peak at such a young age, like animals? It was hard to call someone who was also a child himself a pedophile, so had he only been experimenting at first?

Whether he was or wasn't, that still didn't excuse what he did. No, through the thin glass that separated her present mind from her memories, she knew he knew what he was doing.

Yuuki shook the thoughts from her mind.

"Close but no cigar, eh Zero?" she sighed.

But only the cacophony of traffic and passing pedestrians answered her question. Yuuki could feel her heart sink.

"Zero?"

She twisted, heels scraping the sidewalk as she turned to look back into the alley. Panic shot a chilling whisper up her spine, stabbing her mind with vicious self accusations, jumping to the most horrible conclusions—

He's been captured  
He's being tortured  
He's suffering  
He's dead.  
_Z e r o ' s d e a d . . ._

Her mind whispered to itself, abandoning her body. She felt numb, as she carried out the orders she was given from the very start of her career as an assassin.

_"If ever your partner were to crop up missing, and is believed to be in mortal danger, do NOT go after them. Report back to me, and we'll do all we can."_

Kaien's words now made no sense in her mind, but Yuuki was a trained killer, an assassin, not a Retriever. She had no idea how to deal with hostage situations, and Kaien would know what to do.

But there wasn't any time.

Yuuki left it all behind. The streets passed in a blur, Christmas colored reds and greens, the yellowed whites and tangerines of crosswalks and city lights, all were a jumble in her mind as she ran in the opposite direction of Benibara. Her long buried instincts kicked in, unhindered by the Serum, nostrils flaring as she followed the stint of Zero's scent mixed with rainwater that was left in the alleyways, down narrow streets, tracking her intended prey. She noticed nothing anymore, since her denial-stricken mind had blanked out every thought other than 'Zero'.

Even revenge.  
Even Kaname.

With a low hiss Yuuki tensed as she passed through the gates of a small, privately-owned cemetery, trying her best to focus on the sweet scent of Zero's life, not the decay of corpses or the pungent formaldehyde of the newly deceased beneath the earth. The eerie, normally peaceful atmosphere was exuding an aura of evil, raising the hackles on the back of the assassin's neck.

Nausea hit her full on when she slowed down, taking her time to pinpoint his scent and found blood along with it, but not his own. The salty scent of a sea breeze twined into the stints, Yuuki memorizing it so she could find and murder the bastard who dared to take Zero.

She felt contrite in that moment, backing away from those train of thoughts as she turned her head to the farther back row of graves, silently promising herself to come back later with flowers for Hikari and Yami.

"I'll protect your son." Yuuki murmured, bowing her head for a second in respect, still following the scent through the hollowed land.

She arrived at a small family tomb, smaller than the others, at least, where there must have been the ashes of forty different families buried within, whereas this only held one. Though from the ornate carvings and expensive materials used, she could tell that family had money.

The door was left ajar, and Yuuki let herself in, mumbling an apology as she sprinted to the strengthening scent of Zero's life, her heels clicking, echoing in the tomb. As she reached the end there was a handle in the ground, where the scent was coming from. No time to think about what could horrors could have faced her down below, she pulled the slab up and to the side, descending down a staircase to wind through a labyrinth of narrow catacombs.

**"ღ*~+~*ღ"**

Darkness was always a hindrance to human eyes, but not the eyes of a vampire. Needless to say, even if he kept his physical vampire traits, Zero still had slight vision problems.

But the heavy weight of a wet blindfold over his eyes rose many questions to the front of Zero's mind. The holding facility he awoke in was extremely warm and damp, though that was the least of his worries. His arms had been strained, wrapped around the back of a chair, wrists bound by thick and heavy chains that rattled with his every movement. Zero had no idea how long he had been out for, but his body was slumped forward in the chair, not as stiff and sore as if he had been there for long. The back of his head still felt as if he had been cracked in the skull with a tire iron as he tried to sit up dizzily.

"I told you he wasn't going to die." a voice murmured in the distance.

"You think you're so smart. When we drain him, he'll either turn to ashes, or go back to Benibara in a body bag. I'll bet he dies human."

"Who gave either of you permission to drain my hostage?" a stronger, masculine voice echoed. "The both of you, dismissed."

_"As you wishhhh..."_ their hiss faded into the background.

"Welcome," he paused, heavy footsteps falling closer. "Zero."

His name was whispered like a secret in his ear, giving the hunter goosebumps. The man waited, and Zero said nothing, focusing on trying to regain feeling throughout his entire body. He noticed that his legs were bound together in the same type of chains, as if they were going to toss him into the river. Taking a deep breath, Zero tried to focus on not passing back out, feeling his clothes and wig cling to him with sweat, and the weight of Bloody Rose against his chest.

Why had his captor allowed him to maintain his weapon?

"I left your mouth clear so we could converse, but if you don't want to talk, then you'll just have to listen to me monologuing."

Still Zero said nothing, too tired to talk, brain focused on trying to find a way out of that situation. Surely Yuuki would have noticed him missing by now? Her blood in his veins was restless, probably just like her. It too was probably eating away at the serum in his body, albeit more slowly, since he was just a host, and not the origin of the life liquids.

"Or not. You see, I really hate talking about myself. But I'd like to know, how is Yuuki doing?"

Zero tried his best to keep still and not react to any of the names at all, keeping his heart under control. Perhaps, if he lied smoothly, then he could interfere with the network of information their conversation would eventually enter.

"You know, it's very important that you answer me, because depending on her state of being, she could be in grave, grave danger."

Still Zero said nothing. Inside he was silently panicking, very tempted to take the bait and try to coax information out of his captor as well, but he remained firm.

"Alright, stay silent, but don't blame me if she destroys the entire city. You know that her pureblood powers haven't been used before, yet you continue to allow her to run amok in the Syndicate. It's not safe. Not to mention, that Serum she's taking is extremely dangerous."

How the hell was it dangerous when it was made from her blood? That guy obviously had no idea what he was talking about.

"Moving on, I wouldn't doubt it if her mind was falling to pieces as we speak. What on earth are you people thinking? Dressing her up, making her take so many different roles with so many different personalities when she's in such a fragile state of mind. It's rather sickening when I watch you two pretend for each others sake. I bet she doesn't even know who she is anymore. Have you ever heard of Dissociative Identity Disorder?"

The footsteps started again, Zero's captor making slow circles around him.

"No, I suppose you haven't, otherwise you would keep her like a pretty bird in a gilded cage. As a matter of fact, _you_ shouldn't be running around with the Hunter's Syndicate in the first place. You probably won't tell me even if I ask, but are you a part of the Scarlet Assassin Force?"

Hopefully Yuuki was able to escape successfully. It was a very burdening thought, worry, on Zero's behalf. From the way she was being talked about at the moment, she seemed to be safe, but he couldn't be sure. Either way, her well being was what mattered the most. This man would probably start torturing him once he grew tired of his silent defiance, but Zero would do his best to hold firm to his quiet determination.

"It seems like we're getting nowhere. I would tell you my identity, it's a real treat, but you wouldn't believe me. It's funny, seeing as I should beat you for fucking up my shoulder with one of your anti-vampire bullets, but I need you alive to carry out your mission."

"What mission?" Zero asked, unable to help his curiosity, and the words, from slipping out.

"So the little princess's guard can speak? And here I thought you needed your master's permission to bark. You know." the footsteps stopped. "I have no qualms about bringing her here so we can all have a little discussion. Careless, all of you."

"I know nothing. You can torture me all you like, but the efforts would be fruitless."

"Then what if Yuuki was tortured? Would you speak then to make all her pain stop?"

Over the years Zero had watched Yuuki grow progressively in her tolerance to pain, a step away from masochistic. She learned to ignore the pains of whips and chains when need be, though for some reason, Zero didn't think he was talking about that sort of torture. Did he know about her brothel days?

"Are you staying silent to try and protect her? What will you do if silence isn't enough? Do you honestly think that you're not a threat to her as well?"

That got Zero's attention, and he could tell that his captor took notice.

"In all your lust for her, what would you do were she to become pregnant? She wouldn't be able to defend herself and the fetus, and even then she might not want something squirming inside of her, eating away at her life from the inside. Don't pretend that you don't want her, I can tell that your every movement with her whispers of desire."

"Are you going to torture and kill me, or are you going to stand around and chat all night? Because I have better things to do than listen to your musings." Zero asked acidly, clearly annoyed with his captor.

A hand roughly caught his chin, tilting his head up, exposing his throat. Something thin and sharp, and oh so cold ghosted onto his neck in a line, threatening to paint scarlet in its wake.

"Listen, I don't want to have to do this, but if it's the only way of getting you to pay attention and take me seriously, then so be it. Aside from my ramblings, and musings, my capturing you tonight was for a very specific purpose. If you don't hear me out, then we'll all die."

"What makes you say that?"

"Because you're the only one who can stop this."

"So why should I help you?"

"Think of it as helping Yuuki. If not, then I'll just have to kill her myself. Better death by my hand than the death of countless innocents, or hers by the hand of another. I wouldn't let her suffer."

Zero's blood seared with the desire to murder the unknown man before him as he rattled and strained against the chains binding him to the chair. The sound of footsteps faded before the squeak of wheels could be heard in the far corner, coming closer along with the footsteps closer to Zero. The squealing stopped before long, the sound of metal hitting the floor. Buckles tinkled as they were shifted, probably being undone. Finally, the torture was about to begin.

Though as the tinkling of metal ceased, a cottony scent diffused through the air, followed by the padding of skin against cement.

_"Get these off of me, I get nervous when I can't hear."_

"Of course, Maria."

The shuffling of feet followed by the freedom from equipment echoed in the facility, making Zero wonder exactly where he was. The girl name Maria took a deep breath and let it out with a small hum of her high pitched voice, bones and joints popping, probably stretching.

"I'll take my leave now. I trust that you'll do only as Dokuga says, am I correct?"

_"Only what my master commands of me."_ she sighed wistfully, footsteps drawing closer to Zero's position.

"Sniff me out when you're through, I'll be in the usual spot." the man's voice commanded, his presence withdrawing from the room.

The sound of a metal hatch being opened and closed echoed further down the room, the smell of mercury, blood, and salt air leaving behind him. A deep breath was taken once again, Maria seemingly content.

_"Such a seductive scent, wouldn't you agree Hunter-kun? That blood of his, though it's a bit off."_

"Let's get this over with." Zero ground out impatiently, a plan forming in his mind.

_"You'll enjoy this_,_"_ she mused, her voice at his ear, a small, cold hand stroking down the skin of his neck, leaving goosebumps in its path. _"my marring of your flesh with my fangs, and I'll enjoy the wonderful opportunities that arise from this event."_

Zero writhed in his seat in extreme discomfort, unable to move much. He only had to wait a bit longer, enduring the chilling caress of her frozen lips against his skin, the icy bath her tongue was laving against a chosen spot._.._

**"ღ*~+~*ღ"**

Yuuki must have followed the scent for nearly a mile or two through the stuffy, winding catacombs, but her first sign of life in a large, dark, concrete room was a real wake-up call.

The girl was short, skin porcelain white, only darker than her snowy colored haori and hamaka, silver buckles dangling along the edges of sleeves and pant legs. Her hair was long and slate gray, or did it have a sort of lilac tint to it? Whatever color it was, her bangs were obscuring her face from view, her fangs, no doubt, locked into Zero's neck, his form rigid.

In the same moment Yuuki laid eyes on the scene, her handgun was aimed, a bullet whizzing past Zero's left ear in a loud explosion, right where the young vampiress had been standing before. Around her face was a solid white curved visor over her eyes, a small upside down 'v' for where her nose was.

_"I may be blind, but I can see much better than you think."_ she mused in a high, silky voice.

"SILENCE, VAMPIRE!" Yuuki barked, emptying her clip into the stagnant air, the vampiress moving with unimaginable speed to avoid the hail of bullets.

She ran to Zero's side, entirely focused on eliminating the threat.

_"You need practice in your true nature, not what you pretend to be. You're careless. You've never fought anyone with special powers before, have you?"_

"My DNA does NOT dictate my nature! That's for me to determine myself!" she continued in a growl, already slamming a second clip into her Walther P99 for round two of firing.

_"Humans and their science, you would think that you realized that you're wrong by now. You can only change so much of yourself past your true nature, but the fact remains that it's still there. You just need the correct external stimuli to trigger it."_

The vampiress was there, next to Zero, stroking his neck. Yuuki's eyes were drawn towards the sight, of the blood running down his neck, so tempting, so seductive... A flame of thirst erupted through her core, her mouth watering when she caught the delicious scent of what could be her dinner.

_"Now do you understand how weak your vampire is?" _the girl asked, flitting to the far back of the room.

"And what if I fought you with my full power?" the assassin challenged. "Because I promise you, I won't be the one to die."

Cement cracked, dirt up heaving the man-made rubble as a vine shot lightening quick through Yuuki's torso. She grit her teeth, eyes lightening considerably as her grasp set the limb aflame. She turned to the pale vampiress, torso healing right up with a smirk.

"At least not tonight."

_"If I were you, I would worry about your mate's welfare, not mine."_

"Mate?" Yuuki asked, eyes darting back to Zero's form for a brief moment.

Zero, too, was blindfolded, scarlet soaking the center of the white cloth. It took a split second for her to recover from her shock and seek out the young vampiress, but she had already fled.

"Zero, Zero answer me!"

"...I'm..." Zero hesitated.

"Yes?" Yuuki coaxed, trying to get him to tell her what was wrong as she tried to undo the chains around his form.

She pressed his head into one side of her body, palm against his other ear to protect his sensitive hearing from another ringing bullet she used to pierce thelock against his arms. Yuuki rubbed his arms briefly before placing his hands to his ear so she could unlock his legs as well.

"...I'm hungry..." he admitted begrudgingly. "I need tablets..."

"I'll bet, you look like a mess."

The hunter reached for his blindfold, Yuuki swatting his hand away from his attempts at removing it before kneeling before his stiff body.

"Do you think you can get a good grip?" she asked, bringing his arms around her neck so she could carry him on her back.

"You don't have to—"

"You're too stiff, we need to get you checked out by Kurosu and Yagari."

Without arguing, Zero allowed Yuuki to heft him up, knowing his body was too unusually stiff to be able to walk on his own without much support. He placed a kiss to the back of Yuuki's neck, doing his best at restraining himself from piercing her neck and draining her to the very limits of her mobility, like he had been, but it would have hindered more than helped.

The images he saw during the intimate exchange with Maria, the one, brief memory he had been shown—of Kaname's face.

Zero knew exactly who he was.

* * *

(|===|_'_'_'_'_'|))'_'_'_')=------ . _Bloody Shadows_ . ------=('_'_'_'((|'_'_'_'_'_|===|)

* * *

**A/N:** The original text I had for this chapter with the scene for Maria was actually a tad more disturbing. Fortunately, I found a better way to write Maria in, and ended up starting Kaname's movements on the chessboard in a more favorable way. :3

I absolutely adore insanity. :)

You're all free to follow me on my Twitter ( kagamichihime ), where I spout randomness and talk about my fic progress and any other projects I might be taking on involving VK.

**Reviews:** Please? I'll love you forever. ;)


End file.
